9/13/19 – Jason Chen PD 1 Blogger #2
Aim- How does The Road ask its readers to explore the extremes of violence and compassion?
Notes:
How do you rationalize?
You are in a circumstance where you can only save one of the two people you wrote down.
They are both begging for their lives; sacrificing yourself so they both can live is not an option,
neither is sacrificing both.
They are both begging for their lives; sacrificing yourself so they both can live is not an option,
neither is sacrificing both.
I would pick my mom over my dad because I know that he would want me to pick my mom and to
look after her even after he is gone.
look after her even after he is gone.
Exploring the Boy’s Compassion
We encountered several circumstances where the boy shows unyielding compassion:
the man struck by lightning, the dog, the other boy.
the man struck by lightning, the dog, the other boy.
What are we supposed to understand about the boy’s compassion?
The boy represents the hope and morality of humanity through his compassion and care for everyone
even during their dark, lawless society.
even during their dark, lawless society.
Compassion on Many Levels
The boy’s compassion The Road can be viewed as childish naivete; we, as a humanity,
like to believe that children are inherently innocent. But exploration of our own maligned
actions as children as well as novels such as Lord of the Flies, speaks to a darker side of children.
like to believe that children are inherently innocent. But exploration of our own maligned
actions as children as well as novels such as Lord of the Flies, speaks to a darker side of children.
In a world where there is nothing, why does this boy wants to share?
The boy’s childish innocents causes him to be compassionate to all and to save/help as many
people as possible. But the father understands that they don’t have much to give so they can’t
afford to help everyone and similarly to how we had to only choose one person that we cherished
the father chose to save his son over the whole of humanity.
people as possible. But the father understands that they don’t have much to give so they can’t
afford to help everyone and similarly to how we had to only choose one person that we cherished
the father chose to save his son over the whole of humanity.
Reflection:
Today’s lesson was centered around the justifications for our acts of compassion and violence.
We were able to explore how acts of compassion could be viewed differently depending on the
situations that we are put in. For example, as we explore the boy’s actions in The Road we could
say he was being naive by wanting to help everyone during a post-apocalyptic era but his acts
would’ve been praised in a normal setting. We often see morality and other social constructs
become skewed based on scenarios we are put in. In the book, we see the rise of cannibals
and slave owners and we judge them based on our standards of morality but to them, they are
doing what is best to survive. Throughout the book, we see that the boy is constantly questioning
his fathers' actions only to be reassured by his father that they are the good guys in the story and
he’s doing the best for them. By looking at the actions of the father and the other “bad guys” in the
story we are able to gain a better understanding of what the boy represents through his compassion
and innocence.
We were able to explore how acts of compassion could be viewed differently depending on the
situations that we are put in. For example, as we explore the boy’s actions in The Road we could
say he was being naive by wanting to help everyone during a post-apocalyptic era but his acts
would’ve been praised in a normal setting. We often see morality and other social constructs
become skewed based on scenarios we are put in. In the book, we see the rise of cannibals
and slave owners and we judge them based on our standards of morality but to them, they are
doing what is best to survive. Throughout the book, we see that the boy is constantly questioning
his fathers' actions only to be reassured by his father that they are the good guys in the story and
he’s doing the best for them. By looking at the actions of the father and the other “bad guys” in the
story we are able to gain a better understanding of what the boy represents through his compassion
and innocence.
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