SPOILER WARNING - this thread is for us to chat about the ending of ''The Road'' by Cormac McCarthy

[Miamla]

here we go girls

shall i start? the ending is absolutely bloody ridiculous! Who's next?

Earth Abides is good read too -- another Civilization-as-we-know-it ending, but in a sort of Lord of the Flies way.

My wish list on amazon will get even longer with these suggestions...

I know this thread is old but I just finished the book and feel like I need some councelling

I didn't see the ending as a cop out, I did rather suspect that the boy was imagining it, but not sure that is what McCarthy had in mind?

Ooo, how do you mean that the boy was imagining it but McCarthy didn't mean that? Am intrigued. Completely get you re needing counselling afterwards.

it's just been voted the Times' best novel of the last 10 years hasn't it?

it's rapidly heading for A level syllabuses too.

I keep reading it, or just bits of it, over and over. I get something new from it every time.

I was in no doubt that it was a nuclear explosion. If it had been a virus then the land itself would have been ok and there wouldn't have been all that dust and smog blocking out the sun. And allthe dead trees and animals. There was also the bit early on when he describes getting up and seeing a bright flash (nuclear bomb) and putting the plug in the bath (to stop the fallout getting into the house). Really, what else could it have been but a nuclear bomb?

In a way, it's not really important as to what caused it all could have been a nuclear explosion,a meteor...
I found the ending very moving so I didn't think it was a cop out at all.
Wonderful book IMO.

Movie trailer here They seem to have done as good job.

MattBellamysMuse - I thought his filling the bath up was because he knew it was something serious & that they would need a supply of water, not that it was to stop radiation.
I imagined the disaster was the earth being hit by a comet but it wasn't clear.
I agree with lljkk - I couldn't work out why there should be a disaster which kills all the other animals and plants but leaves human beings and mould alive (because there were descriptions of food that had gone off). I mean, I can imagine a disaster wiping out most things but you would think there would be pockets of animals and plants just like there would be of people. The authorial voice seemed very certain that all these things were gone forever, though.

Re the ending - yes, I didn't find it too happy an ending because if there is really nothing left in the world the boy's new family can only survive for so long.

Interesting re A levels - I loved it and wanted ds (15) to read it, but was a bit unsure if the cannabalism would be a bit strong. Now I think maybe I was being a bit namby pamby. Anyone else got a teen's opinion?

Badgardener, I think the reason some humans survived is because they could hide inside houses till the worst of the fallout was over, living on stored food. The animals outside couldn't and so died. The plants can't grow is such radioactive soil and with no sunlight, so they died off too. Even if some people initially kept their pets they probably would have resorted to eating them or putting them out to get rid of a mouth to feed.
Just my opinion. Only the author knows for sure and even then he may never have decided himself on what the disaster was.

Hmm, I'd have thought there'd still be a few though - fish deep in lakes or rats in cellars and suchlike.
IIRC what happened with Chernobyl was that it took less time than they expected for vegetation etc to come back though obviously with long-term damage done.
If there was fall-out wouldn't there be talk of mutations?
I think you are right though that even the author may not know for sure - it may not be a solvable mystery.