Phase Two: The Road (Part 4)

"He started down the rough wooden steps. He ducked his head and then flicked the lighter

and swung the flame out over the darkness like an offering. Coldness and damp. An ungodly stench.

The boy clutched at his coat. He could see part of a stone wall. Clay floor. An old mattress darkly

stained. He crouched and stepped down again and held out the light. Huddled against the back wall

were naked people, male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands. On the

mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt. The smell

was hideous.

Jesus, he whispered.

Then one by one they turned and blinked in the pitiful light. Help us, they whispered.

Please help us.

Christ, he said. Oh Christ.

He turned and grabbed the boy. Hurry, he said. Hurry.

He'd dropped the lighter. No time to look. He pushed the boy up the stairs. Help us, they

called.

Hurry.

A bearded face appeared blinking at the foot of the stairs. Please, he called. Please.

Hurry. For God's sake hurry.

He shoved the boy through the hatch and sent him sprawling. He stood and got hold of the

door and swung it over and let it slam down and he turned to grab the boy but the boy had gotten up

and was doing his little dance of terror. For the love of God will you come on, he hissed. But the boy

was pointing out the window and when he looked he went cold all over. Coming across the field

toward the house were four bearded men and two women. He grabbed the boy by the hand. Christ, he

said. Run. Run." pg. 36

    Possibly the most disturbing entry of The Road, our two protagonists come across a stash of humans while looting a house. Apparently, a group of people have been finding humans and stashing them away in a basement to keep as a food source. Again, without plants or animals, one of the last things last to eat is HUMAN MEAT! (dun dun duuuuunnnn).

    In our age, we would just run away and call the police to help those people. However, this is impossible in this environmental dystopia. The people in that basement might as well already be dead, and the man decided to save himself instead.

    The unseen cannibals did what they needed to for survival. They were smart and stockpiled humans in their basement. Doing the wise thing, they didn't kill the current human and harvest him all at once. They simply chopped off his legs, keeping the rest of him fresh for later.

    Cannibalism has a large presence throughout the book. Later on, the man and boy hide in some thicket so a group passes by. The group is composed of three older men and one pregnant woman. About 5 pages later, the two try to confront the group while they stop at a fire. Startled, the group runs away, leaving behind a half-cooked newborn baby on a spit.

And here, conversely, is a cuddly, living baby. All better!

    In the absence of government and technology, human life has devolved into a basic situation: "Kill, or be Killed... and harvested for HUMAN MEAT!" (dun dun duuuuunnn).

    The author takes common connotations of barbaric living conditions and puts them on steroids. It's essentially used to scare the reader into taking heed to McCarthy's environmental warning. It's the ever - present idea that "this could happen to me."

    See that baby in the above photo? McCarthy knows it's cute, so he roasts it on a open fire to create its devastating effect.