Remember the Darkness - Forget the Light

While reading Cormac McCarthy's The Road, i came across many lines of the book that really hit me. The quote that was most memorable for me was 'you forget what you want to remember, and you remember what you want to forget.' Not only is this sentence too relatable to ignore, but it is also completely relevant to my own life. Really attempting to remember something good is a challenge. A good dream can fade from your memory in seconds, no matter how hard or how long you sit there trying to recall the details. Then there is the aspect of trying to forget something, ironically making you remember it again. The more you attempt to get something out of your head, the more you are thinking about it - bringing it forth and refreshing the incident in your mind over and over. This quotation took place in the novel when the father was forced to murder a man basically on top of his son. The gore and horrific images haunted the son's mind for days, days in which he was absolutely silent. Images that cannot be erased from the mind seem to have embedded themselves deep in your memory- so far they are unable to be retrieved. Another aspect of the novel i took from this particular quote was that the bad sometimes overrides the good. In this book especially, the difficulties they face are their main focus. They are constantly waiting for something to go wrong, and are wholeheartedly surprised when things actually work out for the better. Even with the father's reassurance throughout their journey, the young boy only knows of the things he has seen- most of the sights being horrific. If he were to forget what he remembers - what would be left? What would he even want to remember from his life? The darkness they face each day seems to be a reflection of their minds. A place where the images of what the world has become are stored, either to be remembered or forgotten. The Road and this quote have taught me that life is certainly worth living to the fullest, spent making good memories that could one ay be forgotten. But it is the bad memories that shape us into who we are and allow us to grow and develop so we can in fact live this one life we have in light rather than darkness.

Strength on the Road

The Road, written by Cormac McCarthy brings forth an aspect of life that many of us rarely even give thought to. What is life when there is no life left? The Road tells the story of an anonymous man and his son traveling the country in a time that i believe to be post apocalyptic. With no names, no food, and no source of travel these men test their strength each and everyday just by surviving. The anonymity found throughout the novel gives it an eerie sense of abandonment. Names don't matter, nothing matters. The only thing worth living for is to see what is left. They are unaware as to what still exists of the world, and the son never even knew what the world was before this mess. Struggling to stay warm in the dead of winter, the men only have a tarp and a cart to protect them. The father's unconditional trust in the world is refreshing throughout the story, and gives the reader a sense of confidence in their survival. Although the men are on a constant hunt for food, the reader is always trusting that things will work out because the father constantly reassures the son that everything is going to be okay and they will not starve. Along their journey they come across good guys and bad. The bad being really really bad. Encountering the location of a herd of cannibals, the father and son escape the holding center of the victims who are impending their death. This scene was hard for me to deal with, and apparently this part of the movie is even more heart wrenching. Although i am unable to relate to such a situation, this instance demonstrates the weight of the novel perfectly. The Road is the type of book that really makes you think about life, and realize how lucky you are to have the things you do. The constant search for things we take for granted each and every day made me understand that i am lucky to have food and shelter available for me at all times. The way i connected to this book was by putting myself in the son's shoes. This is all he has ever known, and all he ever will. He is strong, and while i was reading i was wondering if i would be able to deal with things as well as he did. This book demonstrated the importance of appreciation to me, and showed me what unconditional love truly means.