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The Road

525 statements
103 feature instances
33 referencing feature instances

The Road	type	TVTItem
The Road	label	The Road
The Road	page	TheRoad
The Road	comment	Some time after an unspecified extinction-level global cataclysm, The Road follows two survivors—a man and his young son—who journey south through the ashes of a Post-Apocalyptic United States in the hope of finding enough food to avoid starving to death over the coming winter in a place warm enough that they won't die of exposure either. They have only the rags on their backs, a cart of scavenged food, a gun with two bullets, and one another. As they travel, they (and the reader) bear witness to a dead world where nothing grows, nothing lives, and the sun hasn't been seen in years. "Nothing lives" but refugees like them, wandering the country in search of food... and ever-hungry gangs of cannibals that stalk the roads.The Road was published by Cormac McCarthy in 2006. It garnered critical praise in America and went on to win the Pulitzer Prize. The book is notable for a stark, minimalist style interspersed with occasional purple metaphors. The writing is idiomatic to say the least, eschewing most punctuation (including quotes) and occasionally including one-sentence chapters of philosophical musing.Like most of McCarthy's books, it was optioned for a film, and The Film of the Book (Also called The Road) was released on November 25, 2009. It was directed by John Hillcoat, the director of The Proposition, starring Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Charlize Theron and Guy Pearce. The score was done by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis (no, not that Warren Ellis).See also Threads for another realistic depiction of life After the End.
The Road	fetched	2024-03-02T10:15:47Z
The Road	parsed	2024-03-02T10:15:48Z
The Road	processingComment	Dropped link to Desaturation: Not a Feature - UNKNOWN
The Road	processingUnknown	Desaturation
The Road	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Road / int_122e956a	type	One Bullet Left
The Road / int_122e956a	comment	One Bullet Left: Two at first. With how ammo is hard to come by, the Man and the Boy go through tremendous lengths to save them only as a last resort.
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The Road / int_12dd1d4c	type	Rape as Drama
The Road / int_12dd1d4c	comment	Rape as Drama: Alluded to as one of the many perils on the road (one of the nomadic groups keeps a pack of teenaged sex-slaves on dog collars)—not least because it's often the precursor to something worse.
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The Road / int_170cf4b6	type	Heroes Love Dogs
The Road / int_170cf4b6	comment	Heroes Love Dogs: The Boy, who is easily the kindest character, hears the barking of a dog on and off throughout the journey. His tearful begging also convinces his father not to capture a dog for food.
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The Road / int_1865f13a	type	Apocalypse Anarchy
The Road / int_1865f13a	comment	Apocalypse Anarchy: At the opening of the narrative, there are no civilized places anywhere and almost everyone the Man and the Boy encounters are thieves and cannibals. From what little we learn of the collapse itself, too, it didn't take long after the initial disaster for humanity to completely lose its shit.
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The Road / int_18aff462	type	Artistic License â€“ Biology
The Road / int_18aff462	comment	Artistic License â€“ Biology: In a world with dwindling food resources, the cannibals stay alive by maintaining human livestock. However, it'd be more energy-efficient to slaughter them all and preserve the meat than it would to slaughter them one at a time and use the meat to feed both themselves and the remaining livestock. Possibly justified in that there might not be enough salt or vinegar available, or they simply mightn't know that they can smoke it. In the same vein, a pack of cannibals is shown to have several pregnant slaves, and it's implied by a later scene that they might be deliberately impregnating the slaves to breed babies for food. The problem is 1) conditions are so awful it's highly unlikely anyone is healthy enough to even menstruate, much less sustain a pregnancy, especially with owners like that, and 2) if the pregnancies were on purpose (rather than an side-effect the cannibals take advantage of), from a resource standpoint it's kind of counter-intuitive. In general the book overestimates how well someone could live on human meat. (In Real Life, there's a reason 99% of human-on-human cannibalism is confined to ceremonies and emergencies—anything as far up the food chain as we are is just not very nutritious.) But it's for Rule of Symbolism.
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The Road / int_19da8a03	type	Incurable Cough of Death
The Road / int_19da8a03	comment	Incurable Cough of Death: We see early on that the Man has one, adding an extra layer of urgency to their journey.
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The Road / int_19ebe383	type	Never Trust a Trailer
The Road / int_19ebe383	comment	Never Trust a Trailer: Despite her name being prominently listed, Charlize Theron only appears in flashbacks.
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The Road / int_1dab76ed	type	Cosy Catastrophe
The Road / int_1dab76ed	comment	Cosy Catastrophe: Heavily averted, the Man and the Boy are always tired, hungry, and can almost never fully relax for fear of other humans looking to cannibalise, rape, or steal from them, although they do have a few moments of respite that are relatively cozy considering the circumstances such as when they spend a few days in the bunker and a farmhouse.
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The Road / int_1dfd19f9	type	Papa Wolf
The Road / int_1dfd19f9	comment	Papa Wolf: The Man, full stop.
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The Road / int_21d70919	type	Crapsack World
The Road / int_21d70919	comment	Crapsack World: The Road presents a world that's less half-empty and more one that's almost completely drained, featuring the most thoroughly Crapsack World in all of highbrow literature, surpassed only by I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. The entire biosphere is deadâ€“a frozen terrestrial corpse covered in lung-choking ash. Nightmarish cannibal degenerates, their starving prey, and occasional patches of fungus are the remains of life on earth for most of the novel. In a flashback at the outset, two of the main characters debate whether killing themselves is the only moral decision they have left. The conclusion gives a glimmer of hope by revealing small pockets of life and humanity that may allow the biosphere to recover to a degree, but it's also implied that even so, the earth as we knew it is irrevocably lost. Interestingly, McCarthy's vision of "life" amid total ecological ruin has been credited as so harrowing that it makes The Road a uniquely powerful demonstration of how everything we value depends on the environment, and is thus one of the most important environmental works ever written.
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The Road / int_22071825	type	I'm a Humanitarian
The Road / int_22071825	comment	I'm a Humanitarian: The only way for most people to eat, now that the biosphere has been reduced to ashes. The Man and the Boy are amongst the few survivors who don't indulge in this. As well as, to all evidence, the family that finds the Boy at the end.
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The Road / int_22cf536c	type	Chekhov's Gun
The Road / int_22cf536c	comment	Chekhov's Gun: Subverted. There are constant references to there only being one bullet left in the gun. The ending implies that the Man intended to use it to kill the Boy, but ultimately he can't and it's never used.
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The Road / int_22eff5dd	type	Post-Apocalyptic Traffic Jam
The Road / int_22eff5dd	comment	Post-Apocalyptic Traffic Jam: While the cause of the disaster which led to the post-apocalyptic world is never explained, there was apparently some fore-warning (or maybe human civilization had a last gasp afterwards), as the highways out of the cities are described as containing "a long line of charred and rusting cars."
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The Road / int_24321e44	type	Only Sane Man
The Road / int_24321e44	comment	Only Sane Man: Some see the Woman as this, since she preferred to die rather than slowly starve in the ruined world.
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The Road / int_294ed981	type	Bilingual Bonus
The Road / int_294ed981	comment	Bilingual Bonus: The ship the protagonists find is called the Bird of Hope.
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The Road / int_29e294a6	type	Stopped Clock
The Road / int_29e294a6	comment	Stopped Clock:
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The Road / int_2e42a3e1	type	Beard of Barbarism
The Road / int_2e42a3e1	comment	Beard of Barbarism: Averted and played straight. Averted by the Man, whose unkempt beard is mentioned a few times (typically right before he has the chance to shave it off). Played straight when the two main characters stumbled upon the ghoulish larder of a small band of cannibals at one point. As they flee, they briefly glimpse the larder's owners, and the only adjective used to describe the men is "bearded."
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The Road / int_3036294e	type	Scary Black Man
The Road / int_3036294e	comment	Scary Black Man: Very much averted with the thief. Yeah, he holds a knife to the Boy, but he's in such a miserable state that he's more pitiful than scary.
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The Road / int_334e48a1	type	After the End
The Road / int_334e48a1	comment	Since it's about 10 years (more or less) After the End, a lot of stuff has long since broken down.
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The Road / int_34dcfc96	type	Kick the Dog
The Road / int_34dcfc96	comment	Kick the Dog: When the Man and the Boy catch up to the thief who stole from them, the Man engages in some Disproportionate Retribution, ordering him to strip naked and throw his belongings in their cart. This, in short, gave him a death sentence by hypothermia.
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The Road / int_372bc105	type	Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism
The Road / int_372bc105	comment	Sliding Scale of Idealism Versus Cynicism: There's a whole cottage industry that's sprung up around debating this question. As noted in the description, there's a group that believes the book is mind-shatteringly depressing. There's another group that believes The Road is, through all the death and misery, a chronicle of the strength and beauty of the human spirit.
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The Road / int_392372f9	type	Actor Allusion
The Road / int_392372f9	comment	Actor Allusion: The Lonely Planet New Zealand guidebook on Viggo Mortensen's bookshelf may be reference to The Film of the Book The Lord of the Rings.
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The Road / int_3bce9346	type	RagnarÃ¶k Proofing
The Road / int_3bce9346	comment	RagnarÃ¶k Proofing: Thoroughly averted. The only intact bunker the pair find also happens to have the only functioning lights they come across... for a few seconds. Since it's about 10 years (more or less) After the End, a lot of stuff has long since broken down. The house in the flashbacks, if you notice closely, gradually decays as time passes, from more-or-less pristine to a dilapidated shell of its former self. It also helps that some form of EMP shut down just about everything electronic from day one.
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The Road / int_3c728b77	type	Flare Gun
The Road / int_3c728b77	comment	Flare Gun: Used by the Man to take out a person who was attacking him and the Boy with arrows.
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The Road / int_3d4d3dc9	type	Humans Are Bastards
The Road / int_3d4d3dc9	comment	Humans Are Bastards: Most of the other humans we see are degenerate cannibals, and even the Man himself is capable of vengeful cruelty, as displayed by the incident with the thief.
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The Road / int_40cc0c7e	type	Bittersweet Ending
The Road / int_40cc0c7e	comment	Bittersweet Ending: The Man has died, but the Boy finds a new, slightly more prosperous family to take care of him. Of course, they're still in a dying world.
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The Road / int_44749cee	type	Nothing but Skin and Bones
The Road / int_44749cee	comment	Nothing but Skin and Bones: Due to living in a destroyed world where they're constantly starving, both the Man and the Boy have painfully emaciated-looking bodies. The Boy, when looking at a mirror, actually seems shocked at how skinny they both are.
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The Road / int_46e53efd	type	Screams Like a Little Girl
The Road / int_46e53efd	comment	Screams Like a Little Girl: The Boy.
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The Road / int_47060811	type	Screaming Birth
The Road / int_47060811	comment	Screaming Birth: When the Woman goes into labor.
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The Road / int_470bff94	type	Eats Babies
The Road / int_470bff94	comment	Eats Babies: The cannibals. At one point, the Man and the Boy see three men and a very pregnant woman. Three days after, they pass through a camp that has the remains of a beheaded, roasted infant on a spit.
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The Road / int_4781adbb	type	Jerk with a Heart of Gold
The Road / int_4781adbb	comment	Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The Man coldly disregards the well-being of other survivors he passes without any trace of remorse out of necessity for the survival of him and his son. However, it's clear that he cares for his son and values the Boy's life over his own.
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The Road / int_479d4e5a	type	Would Hurt a Child
The Road / int_479d4e5a	comment	Would Hurt a Child: As to be expected for the setting there are several people who would have no problem with hurting the Boy if given the chance. Thankfully, the film at least left out the scene where some cannibals roast a newborn baby...
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The Road / int_4885c04b	type	Road Trip Plot
The Road / int_4885c04b	comment	Road Trip Plot: A decidedly grim one, traveling through the ashes After the End.
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The Road / int_49b1fe0	type	Beige Prose
The Road / int_49b1fe0	comment	Beige Prose: Sprinkled with Purple Prose patches.
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The Road / int_49d18492	type	Scenery Gorn
The Road / int_49d18492	comment	Scenery Gorn: So very much. In this world, ashes fall like snow.
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The Road / int_4a77ab98	type	Plot Device All Along
The Road / int_4a77ab98	comment	Plot Device All Along: Although not a technological example, the barking dog that only the Boy can hear. The Man believes it's an Imagine Spot as the Boy loves dogs. At the end of the book, it turns out that the dog belonged to the group who were following the Man and Boy to see if they were trustworthy.
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The Road / int_4b1afa0d	type	Spiteful Spit
The Road / int_4b1afa0d	comment	Spiteful Spit: The thief spits on the cart of belongings to the Man and Boy at first when he refuses to give them up. He later ends up naked to die in the cold after giving up the Man's stuff and having his clothes taken from him.
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The Road / int_4b316d47	type	Break the Cutie
The Road / int_4b316d47	comment	Break the Cutie: The Boy is repeatedly subjected to this, most severely when they discover the cannibal larder.
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The Road / int_4fc20818	type	Born After the End
The Road / int_4fc20818	comment	Born After the End: The Boy was born either during or shortly after the catastrophe.
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The Road / int_504a1991	type	Body Horror
The Road / int_504a1991	comment	Body Horror: The Man and the Boy are both horrifically emaciated from starvation.
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The Road / int_5321053	type	In the Doldrums
The Road / int_5321053	comment	In the Doldrums: This world might qualify, as there is almost nothing but ruins, ashes, and baked tar to look at.
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The Road / int_53c9fc92	type	Flashback
The Road / int_53c9fc92	comment	Flashback: How Charlize Theron is able to be in this movie.
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The Road / int_5937a87c	type	No Honor Among Thieves
The Road / int_5937a87c	comment	No Honor Among Thieves: After the Man kills one of the cannibals to save the Boy, he returns some time later to find the remains of the bandit, only a pile of inedible organs, skin, and boiled bones. Considering the depths they've been reduced to, it makes sense they wouldn't let anything go to waste, not even the flesh of a fallen teammate.
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The Road / int_602bf60a	type	Sorry That I'm Dying
The Road / int_602bf60a	comment	Sorry That I'm Dying: The Man to the Boy at the end.
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The Road / int_63557923	type	Death World
The Road / int_63557923	comment	Death World: Almost all life on Earth has been exterminated by a mysterious cataclysm that covered the entire planet in a thick layer of ash. There's almost no plant life left whatsoever, and the few remaining humans have largely turned to cannibalism.
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The Road / int_63a865c9	type	Universal Ammunition
The Road / int_63a865c9	comment	Universal Ammunition: Brutally defied. The Man does come across various ammo boxes and shells over the course of the film, only to find that none are of the same caliber as his gun.
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The Road / int_66dfe36a	type	Missing Mom
The Road / int_66dfe36a	comment	Missing Mom: The mother gave up hope and left the family to kill herself when the Boy was still an infant.
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The Road / int_6779fb0b	type	Shoot the Hostage Taker
The Road / int_6779fb0b	comment	Shoot the Hostage Taker: The Man does this to a baddie who holds the Boy hostage in the woods.
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The Road / int_6977c45e	type	Purple Prose
The Road / int_6977c45e	comment	Purple Prose: In some sections, usually during dream sequences or between settings, the narrator tends to wander off and wax philosophically for a page or two before snapping back to the plot at hand.
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The Road / int_6bd689ca	type	Meaningful Echo
The Road / int_6bd689ca	comment	Meaningful Echo: The Man and the Boy tell each other throughout that they're "still the good guys". As he dies he tells the Boy, "You're the best guy. You always were."
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The Road / int_6d332aea	type	Driven to Suicide
The Road / int_6d332aea	comment	Driven to Suicide: The mother, and the father still carries a gun with two bullets in case he and his son fail to escape the cannibals or some other Fate Worse than Death. Justified, given the situation.
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The Road / int_6d4a4c29	type	Unspecified Apocalypse
The Road / int_6d4a4c29	comment	Unspecified Apocalypse: What happened to the world and how it happened is only mentioned in bits and pieces, not enough to come to a conclusion. The novel is more about the eventual fate of its two characters more so than the mystery of the past.
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The Road / int_7464705c	type	Arc Words
The Road / int_7464705c	comment	Arc Words: "Why are you following us?" or some variant thereof by various characters.
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The Road / int_74e9a5b1	type	Scavenger World
The Road / int_74e9a5b1	comment	Scavenger World: A kingdom for proper boots.
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The Road / int_756c572e	type	Survivalist Stash
The Road / int_756c572e	comment	The only intact bunker the pair find also happens to have the only functioning lights they come across... for a few seconds.
The Road / int_756c572e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_756c572e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_756c572e
The Road / int_7efd2e30	type	Expository Hairstyle Change
The Road / int_7efd2e30	comment	Expository Hairstyle Change: Woman is shown in flashbacks to before the world fell apart with short hair that's also dyed blonde. Flashbacks to further along in the timeline show her hair has grown out and returned to its brown colour.
The Road / int_7efd2e30	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_7efd2e30	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_7efd2e30
The Road / int_7febc23b	type	Establishing Character Moment
The Road / int_7febc23b	comment	Establishing Character Moment: The first few scenes show very clearly that the Man is dedicated to protecting the Boy. In the first flashback, immediately after the first sign of trouble, the Man begins filling the sinks and bathtubs with water, a very real tactic for handling emergencies, showing how he's the kind of man with the right stuff to survive in this setting.
The Road / int_7febc23b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_7febc23b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_7febc23b
The Road / int_86a5c427	type	Kiddie Kid
The Road / int_86a5c427	comment	Kiddie Kid: While the Boy's exact age is never stated, he was portrayed by an actor who was 11 at the time (and looks it), but he acts much younger throughout the film. He carries his teddy bear everywhere, his father still bathes him, and he gets frightened very easily. In fairness to the Boy, he never knew civilization, only a now-dead world where every day is a struggle against starvation and murder.
The Road / int_86a5c427	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_86a5c427	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_86a5c427
The Road / int_8c41d6e9	type	Nameless Narrative
The Road / int_8c41d6e9	comment	Nameless Narrative: No characters or even locations are named throughout the novel. Double subverted with an old tramp the Man and the Boy meet at one point, who claims his name is Ely, before revealing it isn't, and that he doesn't want to tell them his real name. Neither the Man nor the Boy care enough to press him on the issue.
The Road / int_8c41d6e9	featureApplicability	-0.3
The Road / int_8c41d6e9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_8c41d6e9
The Road / int_91672d3e	type	Children Are Innocent
The Road / int_91672d3e	comment	Children Are Innocent: The Man tries as hard as he can to preserve the Boy's idealism in this world, telling him stories and urging him to "carry the fire". The questionable actions the Man takes out of pragmatism work against this.
The Road / int_91672d3e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_91672d3e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_91672d3e
The Road / int_91e894b4	type	Apocalypse How
The Road / int_91e894b4	comment	Apocalypse How: Debatable. We don't know how much of the world is dying, but the parts that are may potentially be Class 4—biosphere extinction has already occurred and the affected areas are in the final stages of dying. Some scientists McCarthy knows have stated that the world the novel is set in is consistent with Earth after a meteor strike or the eruption of Yellowstone Caldera, both of which the world has dealt with and recovered from, or perhaps the aftermath of a nuclear war. But just because the world (and life in some form) would be able to recover from such a disaster doesn't mean that humanity, or even most other life would.
The Road / int_91e894b4	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_91e894b4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_91e894b4
The Road / int_94e4b975	type	Vomit Indiscretion Shot
The Road / int_94e4b975	comment	Vomit Indiscretion Shot: When the Boy gets sick.
The Road / int_94e4b975	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_94e4b975	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_94e4b975
The Road / int_95be648c	type	Creepy Basement
The Road / int_95be648c	comment	Creepy Basement: One filled with people that the cannibals have been eating alive, piece by piece, over a long period of time.
The Road / int_95be648c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_95be648c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_95be648c
The Road / int_98576799	type	Throw the Dog a Bone
The Road / int_98576799	comment	Throw the Dog a Bone: The Boy loses his father, his only source of joy, comfort, peace of mind, and protection. Just as the story sets him up to travel the world as The Aloner, some scavengers who have been following them and claim to "carry the fire" appear... and by all the available evidence, they're trustworthy. The two kids in their group look healthy, and best of all, not gnawed-upon..
The Road / int_98576799	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_98576799	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_98576799
The Road / int_99298c71	type	Better to Die than Be Killed
The Road / int_99298c71	comment	Better to Die than Be Killed: When the Man and the Boy are surprised by the return of the cannibals and hide in the bathroom upstairs, the Man, upon hearing one of them climbing the stairs, puts his gun against the Boy's forehead and prepares to use his last bullet to spare him the horror of being captured and eaten. Ultimately averted thanks to the prisoners breaking out, which distracts the cannibals long enough to allow the duo to make their escape.
The Road / int_99298c71	featureApplicability	-1.0
The Road / int_99298c71	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_99298c71
The Road / int_9d0730f8	type	Badass and Child Duo
The Road / int_9d0730f8	comment	Badass and Child Duo: The Man is just a starving, dying man, but he's a bit more cunning than most other survivors... and he'll do anything (to anyone) to keep the Boy alive.
The Road / int_9d0730f8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_9d0730f8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_9d0730f8
The Road / int_a18a7c01	type	Hand-or-Object Underwear
The Road / int_a18a7c01	comment	Hand-or-Object Underwear: The thief covers his crotch with his hands after the Man forces him to strip.
The Road / int_a18a7c01	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_a18a7c01	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_a18a7c01
The Road / int_a4ffefce	type	Dream Intro
The Road / int_a4ffefce	comment	Dream Intro: The film opens with the protagonist's dream of tender moments with his wife before the apocalypse.
The Road / int_a4ffefce	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_a4ffefce	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_a4ffefce
The Road / int_a679184b	type	Due to the Dead
The Road / int_a679184b	comment	A couple from the scavengers who pick up the boy at the end of the book, showing that they're safe and trustworthy people to be around. They cover the Man with a blanket like they'd promised, and insist the Boy keeps his gun when he tries to give it to them.
The Road / int_a679184b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_a679184b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_a679184b
The Road / int_a8559a9f	type	RealLife
The Road / int_a8559a9f	comment	In general the book overestimates how well someone could live on human meat. (In Real Life, there's a reason 99% of human-on-human cannibalism is confined to ceremonies and emergencies—anything as far up the food chain as we are is just not very nutritious.) But it's for Rule of Symbolism.
The Road / int_a8559a9f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_a8559a9f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_a8559a9f
The Road / int_aed65980	type	All for Nothing
The Road / int_aed65980	comment	All for Nothing: The Man and the Boy ultimately reach the coast, their destination... but there's nothing there for them, and the Man dies.
The Road / int_aed65980	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_aed65980	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_aed65980
The Road / int_b0b0f9c3	type	ProtagonistCentredMorality
The Road / int_b0b0f9c3	comment	Protagonist-Centred Morality: Justified. It's a dog-eat-dog world and everyone is doing what they can to survive - but we follow the Man and the Boy.
The Road / int_b0b0f9c3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_b0b0f9c3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_b0b0f9c3
The Road / int_b23e7ba9	type	Real Is Brown
The Road / int_b23e7ba9	comment	Real Is Brown: Combined with relentless Scenery Gorn like woah. Much of the movie was filmed in an abandoned strip-mine, which is about as close as you can get to a Real Life post-apocalyptic wasteland. The very last scene, however, shows a subtle splash of color on the Boy's face.
The Road / int_b23e7ba9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_b23e7ba9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_b23e7ba9
The Road / int_b2e5a4f3	type	Virtuous Vegetarianism
The Road / int_b2e5a4f3	comment	Virtuous Vegetarianism: The Man and and Boy and the family at the end are essentially this worldâ€™s version of vegetarians, which just translates to non-cannibalism, but they are the most virtues characters in the story.
The Road / int_b2e5a4f3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_b2e5a4f3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_b2e5a4f3
The Road / int_b39b94da	type	Born Lucky
The Road / int_b39b94da	comment	Born Lucky: The Man suspects this of his son â€“ as much as anyone can be born lucky After the End, anyway. By all the available evidence, he's right.
The Road / int_b39b94da	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_b39b94da	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_b39b94da
The Road / int_b8dbe475	type	Blood from the Mouth
The Road / int_b8dbe475	comment	Blood from the Mouth: One of the first signs that the Man is dying.
The Road / int_b8dbe475	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_b8dbe475	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_b8dbe475
The Road / int_b8e3f20a	type	Demoted to Extra
The Road / int_b8e3f20a	comment	Demoted to Extra: Woman had a slightly larger role in the book, but it's smaller in the film.
The Road / int_b8e3f20a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_b8e3f20a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_b8e3f20a
The Road / int_beb9a361	type	Anti-Hero
The Road / int_beb9a361	comment	Anti-Hero: The Man, doing the best he can considering the world he lives in.
The Road / int_beb9a361	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_beb9a361	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_beb9a361
The Road / int_c324a7d	type	Cannibal Clan
The Road / int_c324a7d	comment	Cannibal Clan: Most of humanity have starved to the point where they eat other humans, and it's implied that they will eventually die from sickness or starvation, or cannibalize each other until no one is left.
The Road / int_c324a7d	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_c324a7d	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_c324a7d
The Road / int_c3585f4a	type	Boom, Headshot!
The Road / int_c3585f4a	comment	Boom, Headshot!: When a bandit tries to take the Boy hostage with a knife, the Man shoots him right in the forehead.
The Road / int_c3585f4a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_c3585f4a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_c3585f4a
The Road / int_c3c18143	type	Hope Spot
The Road / int_c3c18143	comment	Hope Spot: The Man finds a still-stocked and untouched bomb shelter, giving them a short time with comfortable beds, food, and even hot baths. Since he knows others will inevitably find it as well, and that the supplies would be better used to sustain them on their ongoing journey, they don't stay more than a few precious days.
The Road / int_c3c18143	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_c3c18143	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_c3c18143
The Road / int_c4db6423	type	Yank the Dog's Chain
The Road / int_c4db6423	comment	Yank the Dog's Chain: See Hope Spot, above. Also, they eventually reach the coast. There's nothing for them there.
The Road / int_c4db6423	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_c4db6423	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_c4db6423
The Road / int_c660bc15	type	Fan Disservice
The Road / int_c660bc15	comment	Fan Disservice: Both the Man and a random thief appear naked at certain points. Neither of which are particularly attractive as well as the fact that the thief is being forced to strip at gunpoint.
The Road / int_c660bc15	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_c660bc15	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_c660bc15
The Road / int_c75df49a	type	Shout-Out
The Road / int_c75df49a	comment	Shout-Out: The Lonely Planet New Zealand guidebook. Australia and New Zealand are set up as possible safe havens in numerous post-apocalyptic works, including On The Beach and The Chrysalids. In addition, The Film of the Book The Lord of the Rings was filmed there.
The Road / int_c75df49a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_c75df49a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_c75df49a
The Road / int_cad6fc25	type	Desolation Shot
The Road / int_cad6fc25	comment	Desolation Shot: Every description of scenery.
The Road / int_cad6fc25	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_cad6fc25	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_cad6fc25
The Road / int_cb70651c	type	Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane
The Road / int_cb70651c	comment	Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: When the Man and the Boy are starving and have run out of food they come across the remains of a house and a barn, after further investigation the man finds an orchard and makes the miraculous discovery of shriveled but still edible apples that are untouched.
The Road / int_cb70651c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_cb70651c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_cb70651c
The Road / int_cbfe592b	type	Cannot Kill Their Loved Ones
The Road / int_cbfe592b	comment	Cannot Kill Their Loved Ones: As the man lies dying of his breathing problems (which may be tuberculosis or lung cancer), the boy begs him to shoot him, as he promised he would rather than make him live in a hellish, cannibalistic dystopia alone. The man refuses, saying he thought he could kill his son, but he can't.
The Road / int_cbfe592b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_cbfe592b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_cbfe592b
The Road / int_ce68d46b	type	Next Sunday A.D.
The Road / int_ce68d46b	comment	Next Sunday A.D.: Dates are never given, but there's no mention of technology that doesn't exist in the real world.
The Road / int_ce68d46b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_ce68d46b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_ce68d46b
The Road / int_cff33981	type	Living Is More than Surviving
The Road / int_cff33981	comment	Living Is More than Surviving: The Woman. She is Driven to Suicide by the fact that she, the Man, and the Boy now have nothing to live for but brute survival.
The Road / int_cff33981	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_cff33981	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_cff33981
The Road / int_d2c0e2ed	type	Schmuck Bait
The Road / int_d2c0e2ed	comment	Schmuck Bait: When the Man finds a jar of preserved fruit in an abandoned house. It looks very nice, but "other people hadn't trusted it, and in the end, neither did he."
The Road / int_d2c0e2ed	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_d2c0e2ed	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_d2c0e2ed
The Road / int_d39e327f	type	What the Hell, Hero?
The Road / int_d39e327f	comment	What the Hell, Hero?: The Man forces the thief who stole their gear to strip at gunpoint, then leaves him helpless beside the road. He will almost assuredly die painfully as a result. The Boy calls him on this.
The Road / int_d39e327f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_d39e327f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_d39e327f
The Road / int_d3cf353c	type	Intimate Haircut
The Road / int_d3cf353c	comment	Intimate Haircut: Non romantic example. Man and the Boy have a cute moment when they get to wash in the house, and the latter gets a trim.
The Road / int_d3cf353c	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_d3cf353c	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_d3cf353c
The Road / int_d935ee2f	type	Innocent Blue Eyes
The Road / int_d935ee2f	comment	Innocent Blue Eyes: The Boy's character is defined by his kindness, optimism and innocence and he has light blue eyes.
The Road / int_d935ee2f	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_d935ee2f	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_d935ee2f
The Road / int_dbca2c99	type	Red Herring
The Road / int_dbca2c99	comment	Red Herring: The final bullet is ultimately never used.
The Road / int_dbca2c99	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_dbca2c99	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_dbca2c99
The Road / int_dda99fa8	type	Despair Event Horizon
The Road / int_dda99fa8	comment	Despair Event Horizon: It's arguable whether our heroes are teetering on the edge, or jumped off a long time ago. Either way, the discovery of the cannibal larder hits them both hard.
The Road / int_dda99fa8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_dda99fa8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_dda99fa8
The Road / int_e11e88b6	type	Thousand-Yard Stare
The Road / int_e11e88b6	comment	Thousand-Yard Stare: Ye Gods.
The Road / int_e11e88b6	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_e11e88b6	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_e11e88b6
The Road / int_e3b0cd87	type	Morality Pet
The Road / int_e3b0cd87	comment	Morality Pet: Were it not for the Boy, the Man would be no better than any of the other subhuman marauders wandering the land.
The Road / int_e3b0cd87	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_e3b0cd87	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_e3b0cd87
The Road / int_e52a0409	type	Calling the Old Man Out
The Road / int_e52a0409	comment	Calling the Old Man Out: The Boy to the Man, for leaving the thief to die.
The Road / int_e52a0409	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_e52a0409	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_e52a0409
The Road / int_ea7e3be8	type	Dramatic Gun Cock
The Road / int_ea7e3be8	comment	Dramatic Gun Cock: The Man does this in particular for the audible effect, even though he knows the pistol is a double action.
The Road / int_ea7e3be8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_ea7e3be8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_ea7e3be8
The Road / int_fadf1efc	type	Happy Flashback
The Road / int_fadf1efc	comment	Happy Flashback: The Man actively tries to discourage these. They just make him want to end it. When he does have one pleasant flashback of himself and his wife before everything went to hell, upon waking up he realizes that his days are numbered.
The Road / int_fadf1efc	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_fadf1efc	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_fadf1efc
The Road / int_ff7f34c5	type	Pet the Dog
The Road / int_ff7f34c5	comment	Pet the Dog: Just like in the book, the Man forces the thief to strip naked and plans to leave him behind like that, essentially dooming him. However, due to the Boy's pleas, they go back to where they left him to return his clothes. Although he's gone when they get there, they leave behind the clothes and a can of food.
The Road / int_ff7f34c5	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_ff7f34c5	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_ff7f34c5
The Road / int_fff371b4	type	Death Seeker
The Road / int_fff371b4	comment	Death Seeker: Strangely averted by the old man. The Man asks him if he ever wished he could die, only for the old man to reply that in times like these, it is foolish to wish for such "luxuries".
The Road / int_fff371b4	featureApplicability	-1.0
The Road / int_fff371b4	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_fff371b4
The Road / int_name	type	ItemName
The Road / int_name	comment
The Road / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
The Road / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
The Road	hasFeature	The Road / int_name
The Road / int_name	itemName	The Road

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

theroad	sameAs	The Road
The Road	hasFeature	A World Half Full / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	American Literature (N to S) / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Apocalypse Anarchy / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Badass and Child Duo / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Blood-Splattered Innocents / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Born After the End / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Bunker Woman / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Cannibal Larder / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Cannot Kill Their Loved Ones / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Depopulation Bomb / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Desolation Shot / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Disaster Scavengers / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Double Subversion / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Dramatic Gun Cock / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Driving Song / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Everybody's Dead, Dave / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Gaia's Lament / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Harmful to Minors / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Inferred Holocaust / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Nameless Narrative / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	No Party Like a Donner Party / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Post-Apocalyptic Traffic Jam / int_91bfc484
RingOfHell	seeAlso	The Road
The Road	hasFeature	Road Trip Plot / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Ruins of the Modern Age / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Safe Zone Hope Spot / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Sorry That I'm Dying / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Standard Post-Apocalyptic Setting / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Straw Nihilist / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Survivalist Stash / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Unspecified Apocalypse / int_91bfc484
The Road	hasFeature	Weapon for Intimidation / int_91bfc484

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