9/17/19 Kevin Chen Period 2

9/17/19
Kevin Chen Period 2
Aim: how does McCarthy demonstrate the tenacity of love in a time of despair?
We were first told to answer the do now question which asked us to come up with a “brutally
honest list of the joys and sorrows of truly loving someone.”
For the following do now, there were mixed results that focused mainly on the sorrows and
hardships of loving another person. For example, Yayin raised her hand and said how loving
someone means to be able to tolerate all their actions and behavior, even if it's peevish. You
have to live with how they are as a person, even if they may get on your nerves sometimes.
Senan, on the other hand, gave a more positive response, in which he said how that genuinely
loving someone would bring joy and pleasure when something good happens to them, but the
same goes for vice versa.
To conclude the do now discussion in class, Ms. Fusaro emphasized how great emotion comes
with an equally impactful opposite. This shows that loving someone brings a strong sense of
happiness, but can lead to an equally detrimental feeling of despair when all goes wrong.
In the next section of the class discussion, we focused on the topic of cannibalism in the story.
The board read “Love in a Time of Cannibalism,” which was accompanied by an excerpt from
the novel and the question; “exploring monsters-the vampire, the zombie, they share the
desire/need to eat humans which seems gruesome to us, how does cannibalism compare?”
The discussion about how monsters and zombies differ from humans when it came down to the
topic of consuming humans focused mainly on morals and human consciousness. To start off
the discussion, Gaudi said how monsters don’t feel anything when they have the urge to eat
humans. This is different for humans, however, because we have morals and the ability to resist
such thoughts. Yayin added into the discussion by saying how it just creates a feeling of disgust
since humans have a strong mental state to be able to talk things out with others. To conclude
this discussion, Ms. Fusaro summarized the points made by saying how zombies are brainless
and are unable to resist the urge to eat humans, whereas humans are capable of making them.
In the next section of the discussion, we were asked “why the children? How is this vision of
cannibalism so much more grisly and repugnant? What is the statement about the future?” We
focused on the grim imagery from reading how Cormac envisioned a post-apocalyptic world
where it would “largely be populated by men who would eat your children in front of your eyes.”
In this discussion, we focused on the symbolism that the babies represented in the novel.
Tracey brought up how it shows how the men are selfish because they would resort to eating
babies to allow themselves to survive. Emma gave a wonderful comment by discussing how the
men are destroying their future because they’re eating the children, which are their future. To
summarize the discussion, Ms. Fusaro said how the children represent hope, the tangible
future, and without the children surviving, the future of humanity is gone.
The last discussion for the class focused on Cormac McCarthy and his relation with his son. We
watched an interview between McCarthy and Oprah that gave light to why the Road was written.
We learn that McCarthy was 66-years-old when he had his son and it’s because of his son that
the book was written. Brian made an excellent connection between the father in the book and
Cormac himself. Since Cormac had his son at such a later age, he has a limited amount of time
left to teach his son about life and to watch him develop into a mature man. This can be related
to the father in the book since he doesn’t have much time left to keep going on, but his son still
has so much to learn before becoming fully independent.
Student Reflection:
Today’s discussion focused on the morality and ethics of cannibalism, alongside the deep
connection between two loved ones. The question of whether cannibalism should be practiced
even in times of desperation raises awareness of one’s morals and their capability to resist such
urges. To see people resort to consuming children in order to survive is a horrible action, which
further expedites the inevitable downfall of humans. Babies are a symbol of the future, which
also represents hope and innocence. I strongly am against such a vile act to be committed,
even if I were in such a desperate time. The more positive side of today’s lesson goes to the
discussion of Cormac’s strong bond with his son. I felt that this truly highlighted the best of
humans, where we are able to go far and wide for the people we love. I loved how Cormac
especially dedicated his son as a co-writer of The Road and associated his own life experiences
and struggles into the character of the father.