 The sardonic blind man named Ely, who the man and boy encounter on the road, tells the father that, "There is no God and we are his prophets" [p. 170]. What does he mean by this? Why does the father say about his son, later in the same conversation, "What if I said that he's a god?" [p. 172]. Are we meant to see the son as a savior? Why is Ely the only character named in this novel? What does this mean and how does it affect your understanding of the meaning of the work as a whole?
24 Comments
Williams Germins
1/25/2018 11:03:55 pm
In the road, all the characters are addressed as man, boy, attacker, etc but no one is addressed by their proper name. However, the man and the boy meet another character, and he tells them that his name is Elis. Eventually, he confesses that Elis isn’t his real name, and he won’t say what his real name is. Out of the kindness of the boy’s heart, the man feeds Elis. Once they begin having a conversation, Elis tells them that “there is no god and we are his prophets”. First of all, a prophet is a person who speaks for God or a deity, or by divine inspiration (Dictionary.com), indicating that God’s not real and that we are the people who are in charge of spreading the word that God is a fantasy. In the Catholic Bible, God sent Elijah - a prophet- to announce the punishment and warn the nation to change its ways. Elijah signified the coming of the Messiah. In Kings 17:1, it says “Now Elijah the Tishbite, from Tishbe in Gilead, said to Ahab, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word’.”. In this passage in the Bible, Elijah knew what was coming and in the book The Road, Elis states, “I knew this was coming… I always believed in it “ (McCarthy 168). It isn’t clear if there’s a biblical connection between Elis and Elijah but they both were well aware of what was coming next. Moreover, in the bible, Elijah was a man who believed in God and spread his word, but Elis seems to be the contrary, he seems to have lost his faith and hope for a better world. In The Road, it is clear that Elis has lost any hope for humanity and he doesn’t believe in God, but the man stated, “What if i say that he’s a god?” (McCarthy 172), referring to the boy. I believe we are meant to see the boy as a savior. In the bible, Elijah was told by God to flee to Horeb for his safety but Elijah struggled since he is physically exhausted. However, in Kings 19:5-6, it says, “All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again.” Just like God fed Elijah, the boy fed Elis, which reflects God’s actions through the boy. In my opinion, the boy carries the light, and he is a symbol for the hope of a new world.
K. I.
1/28/2018 10:53:15 pm
Another source of symbolism for the light that the boy carries inside of him could be the story regarding Prometheus and his gift of fire to humanity. Before the gift of fire, the world was a terrible place to live in. After its arrival, humanity had the chance to live in comfort and therefore improve as a species, in many ways becoming an essential building block that lead us to who we are today. In the same way that the boy represents a new version of the world/humanity through his compassion and ideals (compared to his surrounding landscape and uncaring, aged humans), the fact that the text keeps referring to the fire that he carries shows his potential as a new starting point for humanity, one that could quite possibly end up saving the human race and ensure that it prospers. In this way, he also acts as the savior that humanity needs, showing that humans are still redeemable, and that not all is lost.
Marge Piercy
1/26/2018 11:30:09 am
I believe we are supposed to see the son as a savior. In the novel, almost every character has a disease or flaw. The people who try to kill them are rapists and cannibals, appearing only to seek for pleasure and survival. Ely is a thief who tries to steal the man and boy's supplies and food. The father is deadly ill, likely to die very soon. By contrast, the boy is young, relatively healthy, and very curious. He possesses some of the only features of humanity in the book. He has never committed a murder and he spends most of his time trying to learn about his surroundings. We can see him as the savior who can make a change in this dying world. He may be able to convince people to change themselves for the better.
Alden Bell
1/28/2018 10:42:31 am
I agree with your perspective of the boy and his possible role as a savior in the novel; while faced with death through starvation, murder, or sickness, he somehow remains exceedingly positive and hopeful for the future. This is not to say that he is always positive; the boy is seen at many times fearful of his world and is frequently brought to tears by his surroundings- however, I believe this further proves his role as a savior, as he demonstrates an ability to connect with emotions most characters seem to have lost.
Williams Germins
1/28/2018 01:25:41 pm
Orson Scottcard
1/29/2018 08:29:03 pm
I decided to respond to this because I really agree with everything you chose to speak about. I also believe the son is supposed to be seen as a savior. You note how everyone in this novel either has a disease or flaw, which is pretty apparent. However, the little boy represents this new sense of life that no one else shows. Like you state, the boy has never murdered or committed any crime, so there’s a possibility he can change the place where he lives. The son can make a difference in the world and cause it so that everything and one changes for the better. Furthermore, Ely’s name is actually pretty interesting because it is pretty famous in the bible, however this Ely doesn’t seem to believe in God. Therefore the son is the true savior and Ely can’t be a prophet.
George Orwell
1/29/2018 09:00:12 pm
I decided to respond to your post because it made me think about what was happening in the book in a new way. I hadn't really thought about the fact thar everyone besides the boy had either some sort of disease or flaw. I definitely agree with your statement about how the boy possesses some of the only characteristics of humanity in the novel, and i wonder if this is just because the post apocalyptic world which they are currently living in is the only world he has known. This innocence could possibly allow the boy to have more of a purer soul than those around him, as he gas never known what life was like before all of the grayness, death, and cannibalism which they encounter on an everyday basis.
George Orwell
1/29/2018 09:01:45 pm
Word count=131
Ray Bradbury
1/29/2018 09:55:25 pm
I also agree with this because of all the horrid things The Boy has witnessed his entire life, he still has the heart to help out Ely who did not show any sign of gratefulness. But also it might be because he does not quite understand yet of why others act the way they do since he did not see the upside before the downfall of society. It is all about survival. Assuming The Boy is still young and naive, which could be why he does not act selfish like the rest of those who are still alive in this post apocalyptic world.
Alden BELL
1/26/2018 11:30:16 am
I believe Ely’s words of “there is no God and we are his prophets” are meant to symbolize that we are worth nothing and will not be remembered. He says this because we as a species created religion, and as our species dies out, so does the meaning we used to believe we held. By this, he is saying we are not important anymore; we exist for no reason now except to die. I believe the father says that the son could be a god due to his kindness towards the old man and all the rest of humanity he encounters; here he is saying that humanity does have a reason to live- his son- and that as a species we have not yet died out or run out of hope, as his son continues to carry it. Ely was the only character with a name because he represents the loss of hope for society present in most of the living inhabitants of the world; by having the name Ely, which is meant to represent someone higher and godly, McCarthy shows the contrast between what the world was and what it is now. This changed my take on the novel as a whole with the perceptions I carry about the remaining humanity as a whole; I now feel as though the boy is not only the only hope for the father to continue to carry on, but will also serve as a source of leadership and goodness later in his life in the post-apocalyptic world he was brought into.
Marge Piercy
1/29/2018 08:55:07 pm
I think it is really interesting how you tied Ely into the son's godly qualities. It is very interesting that the boy still wants to help him and feed him despite his attempt to steal from them. I also believe the idea of religion disappearing is quite interesting. It reminds me of the question: "If a tree falls in the forest and there's no one around to hear it does it still make a sound?" While in this example basic logic would state that obviously the tree would still make a sound, this answer does not necessarily apply to the idea of religion. With no one left to worship this god who would so readily destroy an entire species, does this god still exist? It also begs the question of why a god would do this, and destroy all who worship them and kill all of the good people in the world?
Margaret Atwood
1/29/2018 10:31:25 pm
I find your take on this amazing. This was something I never really took into consideration, or thought about at all. It gives me a new perspective into what Ely might mean by what he said. Like you said, humanity could have made up religion. And if the one thing they believed in, God, is gone, does that mean mankind itself has started is dying out completely? Like you said, they have no purpose but to die anymore. And who knows what's beyond that line, is there a world better than the one they live in, or just nothing? There’s no way to know.
K. I.
1/27/2018 12:00:48 am
When Ely says that "There is no God and we are his prophets", I believe that he is talking about the whole concept of the belief system that supports God (or at least used to, before the world ended.) and its pointlessness when compared to the demands of the reality they all currently occupy (McCarthy 170). He doesn't believe in God given the sorry state in the world, and by saying this he rightfully points out that the only thing actually propagating the idea of God is humanity itself. When the world ends and nobody is left to give or hear a sermon, the idea of God also disappears, proving (at least to the man) his previous statement. Also, the father asking why the boy couldn't be considered a God, coupled with the boy's proven record of trying to not taint his morality, made me think that the "fire" the boy carries (and the boy himself) symbolizes not only hope, but the future of humanity as a whole. Compared to every adult that was born from the "old world" and believe that almost everything beautiful can no longer exist, the boy really tries to be the antithesis for that mantra, and ends up exhibiting humanity that was thought of as lost long ago. Just like Prometheus gave fire to humanity (and thereby improving the species for the future), the boy acts as the torchbearer for the new world, a new humanity born from the ashes of the old one.
Alden Bell
1/28/2018 11:25:54 am
I was very interested in your take on the boy's role in the novel, as I previously thought of his ability to see beauty in the grey world that surrounds him to be rather pitiful. However, reading your response- particularly the reference to Prometheus - I now feel that the boy's indestructible hope to go on is meant to symbolize to readers that he is the last hope for humanity, and he won't let them down. I fully agree with your statement about Ely's words- he highlights that without the humanity-created beliefs, in this new world there truly is no god to save them- unless of course the boy can take this role as a new source of hope in the absence of previous beliefs.
George Orwell
1/27/2018 01:31:54 pm
When Ely says “There is no God and we are his prophets” (McMcCarthy 170), I think he is referring to being an atheist. The “we are his prophets” part of his statement is most likely a sarcastic one, as Ely clearly does not believe God exists. When you take into account the harsh conditions Ely, the father, and the son are living in, it becomes easier to understand why Ely may have this attitude towards religion, as he may be wondering how a “god” could possibly allow them to endure as much suffering as they do. In the same conversation, when the father says “What if I said that he’s a God?” (referencing his son), I believe the father is suggesting that his son is his savior. Earlier in the book, the father does mention how his son is basically his only reason for living. His son may not necessarily be a savior in the same sense as God is, yet he has still kept the father alive in a cruel, dangerous world. As for Ely being the only character with a name in the novel, I believe this is done because he is meant to represent religion, and the name Ely could be a reference to Elijah, the Hebrew prophet in the Bible.
Williams Germins
1/28/2018 01:44:43 pm
K. I.
1/28/2018 10:27:13 pm
The boy obviously carries a lot of meaning through his relationship with fire and his father, and can be seen as the last remnant of the best that humanity used to be. However, I also see him as a savior for not only his father, but to humanity as a whole. Even faced with the decaying corpse that is his current landscape/reality, he still displays acts of kindness and seems to be concerned about the wellbeing of others. Being heartless looks to be the new way of life for what remains of human beings (with even the father wishing he could be this way), but by carrying the fire, the boy rejects these ideals, and represents the "new world" that is set to replace the "old world". Using Prometheus as a backdrop, the fire that the boy carries with him has a symbolic precedent of it bettering (or in this case saving) humanity.
K. I.
1/28/2018 10:30:25 pm
Word Count: 156
Marge Piercy
1/29/2018 09:02:28 pm
I find it interesting what you are describing. It almost seems like Ely is creating his own religion of disbelievers. Every religion is made by a person who had an original idea and it seems like Ely is creating an atheistic religion centered around the idea that no god would be willing to destroy the world that they created. Therefore an omnipotent, all-powerful being would have been able to stop whatever disaster is destroying the Earth. I also like your description of Ely's sarcasm. This verbal irony is very important because it helps to add to Ely's character and help us see that he is not a good person overall though he is not the worst.
Orson Scottcard
1/27/2018 07:41:16 pm
In the novel it is stated, “There is no God and we are his prophets” (McCarthy 170). I feel as though this quote is the expression of Ely’s doubt in the people around him. Ely is the first real character presented in the novel besides the man and his son. Now that the world the people live in seems to be falling apart right before their eyes, they don’t know whether to believe in God or to lose faith. Also, the novel also states, “What if I said that he’s a god?” (McCarthy 172). I think this quote is very important because it shows the destruction of the world and the confusion in the people. To Ely, the boy is seen as a savior because he was confused on what the boy was, because he hadn’t seen a boy in a while. I think seeing the boy for the first time in a while made him had faith for the first time in a while, not only because he wasn’t used to seeing kids, but also that new life could be created. I think Ely is the only one with a name because he brings a sense of religion to the novel, and I feel as though that’s important. Ely also shows an ungrateful side when he says that he wouldn’t have given his food to the son, even though he gave some to Ely. However, this allows me to understand the novel as a whole because it shows how the whole community was forced to be more selfish so that they could survive.
George Orwell
1/29/2018 08:48:53 pm
I totally agree with your statement about Ely bringing a sense of religion to the novel. Even though he doesn't seem to believe in God, Ely still represents religion by bringing up the concept with the man and the boy, and his doubt in there being a creator in such a cruel world does explain why he may have such a cynical attitude towards religion as a whole. It is pretty easy to understand why Ely may feel this way, because in real life it is pretty common for individuals to begin to lose faith as they experience trying circumstances.
Margaret Atwood
1/29/2018 10:39:07 pm
I like your take on this part of the novel. I don't really agree with you when you say that Ely sees the boy as a savior just because he hasn't seen new life in a while. I think he has lost complete faith in humanity, and that not even the boy could change his mind. I agree with you when you say that Ely brings a sense of religion into the novel. His name itself is a nickname for the common name Elijah, which could hint for us to look deeper into the meaning of the name and what importance it has in the bible.
Margaret Atwood
1/28/2018 11:59:01 pm
When Ely says “There is no God and we are his prophets” (McCarthy 170), he is claiming that there is no God. That there is no higher power because of all the destruction that has fallen upon the world. And because there is no God, because there is no consequences of what happens on Earth anymore, humanity has become the prophets of evil---because there is no more pure good. I feel that the father says “what is…[my son’s] a god?” (McCarthy 172), to either spite the man he’s having a conversation with, or because he believes a little bit himself. He idolizes his son; the boy is a character who is innocent, and good, and wants to bring mercy to all those he comes across. We aren’t meant to really see the son as a savior, but more that he could become one. He’s saving his father from self destruction, and with every person they encounter, he wants to help. And to the man, that is enough to pronounce his son a god in a world full of hate.
Ray Bradbury
1/29/2018 09:35:41 pm
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