Home > The Road Summary & Study Guide > Summary
The Road | Summary
The novel opens with a father and son sleeping outside in the cold. The father awakens from a dream of him and his child in a cave, facing a huge, nameless creature that eventually runs away into the dark. At dawn, the father (who, along with the son, remains nameless throughout the novel) surveys the landscape, trying to decide where they will travel next. He is unsure of month or day, because "he hadn't kept a calendar for years." The scene before him reveals ash from a post-nuclear holocaust falling from the sky and drifting across the landscape. The father and son are survivors,...
[The entire page is 1462 words long]
Join eNotes
The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:
Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
Navigate
- The Road: Introduction
- The Road: Summary
- The Road: Overview
- The Road: Cormac McCarthy Biography
- The Road: List of Characters
- The Road: Setting
-
The Road: Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 2 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 3 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 4 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 5 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 6 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 7 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 8 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 9 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 10 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 11 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 12 Summary and Analysis
- Chapter 13 Summary and Analysis
- The Road: Characters
- The Road: Themes
- The Road: Techniques / Literary Precedents
- The Road: Ideas for Reports and Papers
- The Road: Related Titles / Adaptations
- The Road: Ideas for Group Discussions
- The Road: Critical Overview
- The Road: For Further Reference
- Copyright
Tell a friend about The Road at eNotes.
