The End of The Road

The novel ends with the father dying and the boy finding a family to take care of him.  Compared to the rest of the story this is an optimistic ending.  Even though the father died the kid survived, which is more important and was the father's sole goal.  More promising is the fact that the people the boy is going with have two young kids, a boy and a girl.  The boy has been wanting to meet other kids like him for a long time, ever since they saw a little boy in a town.  This also suggests that there is still hope for the human race, and a new generation is possible.  The concept of holding the fire is brought up when the boy asks the man who finds him whether he's a good guy and if he holds the fire.  He's obviously a good guy but he doesn't understand the metaphor.  Either way, they are all keeping the fire alive by continuing to be the good guys and doing the right thing.  The final paragraph is about times past, describing trout swimming in a mountain stream.  This is another positive note to end on.  It may foreshadow good times coming back, or at least keeping the good times in memory.  Though many people the man and the boy meet along the road face horrible endings, the future looks bright for the boy and the other kids.  Not to end on a complete downer, but of course in that world hardships will still remain.

You Are What You Eat

Cannibalism is pretty common in the society in The Road, because people are desperate and have few other options. Here's one example.  At one point the man sees two men and a pregnant woman pass on the road. A while later the man and the boy see smoke from a fire, so they go to investigate.  When they get there there's no one there because the people may have seen that the man had a gun.  All that's left is something black and roasted on a spit over the fire.  The boy suddenly starts bawling, and the man realizes that the object on the spit is a human infant.  They quickly leave in horror.  When I first read this I assumed that the woman had a baby and they killed it and ate it.  Looking back on this I realized it's also possible that it was a stillborn, especially considering how weak the woman was.  In that case, even though it's extremely gruesome, I think it's okay to eat the child.  We can't even imagine a situation like theirs, and it wouldn't have done them any good to bury it, even though it's easy to say it's the right thing to do.  If the child was born alive, it would be wrong to eat it, especially because it could be one of humanity's few chances of survival.  When it comes down to it though, it seems people will do anything to survive.

The Road Part 1

As we read further in The Road, certain aspects of the characters' past lives are slowly revealed to us.  First we get hints that the boy's mother is dead, as well as seemingly most of the human population.  I assumed she died like most people did in whatever horrific catastrophe basically destroyed the Earth.  Later on we learned that she actually took her own life, and had wanted her husband and son to do the same.  Apparently she had been discussing this with her husband for a long time.  Even the boy was aware of it.  When one morning they left without her he simply asked, "Is she dead?" and the father replied, "yes".  Her reasoning was that they were going to die a horrible death if they waited any longer.  This is actually pretty likely considering the circumstances, but it was completely selfish to leave her family behind, especially her son.  It was her responsibility to care for him, and if she really loved her son I believe she would have stayed with him no matter what the future might hold.

An Open Letter to Parents

One of the many important topics covered in Ordinary People is parenting. Everyone has their own opinions on this important aspect of a child's life. Though some are good and some aren't so much, there are a few things every parent should make sure to do.  One of the seemingly simplest and most important things a parent needs to do, and something Beth just couldn't do for Conrad, is to show affection.  Although she does love him - he is her son - she just can't put things in the past and show her love for him. Now although he is a better parent, Calvin isn't perfect either.  Toward the end of the book Conrad told him he ought to scold him more often; he loves his son so much he couldn't even think about causing him more pain.  He thinks he didn't pay enough attention to Conrad before the suicide, so now he's overcompensating.  Though these are good intentions, he needs to see that Conrad is growing up and is doing a lot better now.  Of course, there are many other shortfalls of parents that don't arise in this book, but there are still parenting lessons that can be learned from Ordinary People.

It's Your Civic Duty

There are too many people in our society who act selfishly and think they can do whatever they want, without considering others. One example of this that bothers me most is littering (or degrading the environment in general), which we have touched on in class. The problem we discussed was a young girl in a car with a parent who threw a wrapper out the window, and the parent didn't do anything. Many people in class were saying it's none of your business; it's the parent's job to raise their own kid. But I disagree, I think it is the business of everyone in the community, because it affects everybody. I think people were thinking of the situation as a single occurrence; one wrapper isn't gonna do anything.  But if this girl isn't taught not to litter she'll keep doing it her whole life.  it isn't fair that because she doesn't care the people and environment have to deal with a dirtier world.  This problem goes farther than littering.  Though not always a conscious decision, people who do things like leave lights on all the time are acting irresponsibly. They're polluting the environment even though they can't directly see that pollution.  It's at some far away power plant so it's easy to forget what you're doing.  But I'm sure that if they could directly see or experience the affects of the air pollution they're causing, people would be quick to reduce energy consumption.  Since people act in their own self interest they don't think about the consequences. Hey, maybe global warming isn't so bad after all if it'll show people what they're doing and get them to use less!

All Souls: Is Poverty a Choice?

In some cases poverty can be a choice, but in most cases it isn't. Obviously, being born into poverty isn't a choice, and that's how most people are placed into a situation of poverty. In the case of the MacDonalds in All Souls, poverty is verging on being a choice. Michael's mother could have had fewer children, finished school, and gotten a good job. She definitely had the potential at one point to lift her family out of the projects, more than most of the other families, but overall they enjoyed that lifestyle. It was more of an unconscious decision, but it wouldn't have been too hard to predict that that's where they'd end up. It may be sort of an unconscious decision for others too.  If someone is born into an impoverished family and community, that is all they know. Maybe they have the ability to lift themselves or their families out of poverty, but they just don't know how because no one in the community has done so. These people are not to blame for their situation, but it's possible that it's not as hard for some people to get out of poverty as it might seem.

Malcolm X: Integration

As Malcolm X distanced himself from the Nation of Islam, his views started to grow slightly less radical.  I think that he might have even come to support integration had he lived long enough to develop his views.  Now that we have seen how the integration tactic has played out, we can look back at its flaws and its strengths, even though the process is by no means over.
People of different cultures still like to associate with their own culture, which can lead to self-segregation and neighborhoods of mostly one race.  And this by itself isn't a problem. It's important to keep a sense of cultural identity. It's in places like schools and the workplace that integration is most important.  It develops cultural interaction and understanding.
Integration is a slow process, but I think it is for the better. It can be thought of as a medicine that might first be bitter going down, but will help you in the end. There were some problems in the beginning, and there still are, but overall I think we've seen a positive trend, especially compared to the pre-integration days. And places like Whitney Young are a big help in the process. It brings normal, but smart, kids from all over the city and encourages all of them to pursue higher education, no matter their background. Though social problems still plague many African-American neighborhoods, I feel that in the long run the future will present even more positive opportunities.