[Bruincoug]

Originally Posted by SeattleUte

Nice insights. The hard fact that distinguishes father and son from the other surviving humans except the strangers at the end of the story is that father and son are not killers, not cannibals. They prefer death, if it would come to that, to raising a hand as predators against their fellow humans. The Road teaches that resort to murder and cannibalism to survive is our nature, which we must overcome by virtue. This novel is a powerful rejoiner to Nietzche, who condemned Christianity as going against nature with its central doctrine that the meek are most blessed, and the last shall be the first, i.e., " the wretched alone are the good; the poor, impotent, lowly alone are the good; the suffering, deprived, sick, ugly alone are pious, alone are blessed by God, blessedness is for them alone --and you, the powerful and noble, are on the contrary the evil, the cruel, the lustful, the insatiable, the godless to all eternity; and you shall in all eternity the unblessed, accursed, and damned!"

In the Road, father and son rebel against nature, follow their ingrained Christian outlook, and win our sympathy.

a very compelling thought. murder as part of human nature seems a common enough thought. murder to the end of cannibalism and survival as part of human nature seems like a bridge too far. but i guess that is the Christian viewpoint (or most any viewpoint of moral imperatives) -- namely, that there is such a thing as "too far" -- even when moral action may risk death and immoral action evade it.

at first glance, survival may seem to be the paramount objective -- but it is not quite paramount -- not quite at any cost. that separateness from world -- the unwillingness to murder and eat other humans -- sets the two main characters apart.