The Road... Is It a Circle After All?

Can a novel be a round turn? By any chance, can the whole novel be a circle that makes takesthe reader to a start? Yes it is!!! The Road is a novel that doesn't end, but rather finish with a new start. We can clearly see evidence of this in the final chapter of the novel:


"Once there were brook trout in the streams in the mountains. You could see them standing in the amber current where the white edges of their fins wimpled softly in the flow. They smelled of moss in your hand. Polished and muscular and torsional. On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming. Maps and mazes. Of a thing which could not be put back. Not be made right again. In the deep glens where they lived all things were older than man and they hummed of mystery."


as you can see, even if this an extract from the end of the novel, it clearly speaks of the past, "Once there were(...) You could see(...) They smelled..." This may refer to the world's recovery from its catastrophic state into something better, but the author utilises scenes from the past (I assume) in order to create a sense of hope that resembles the one that existed before the catastrophy striked. 


On the other side, McCarthy uses imagery to give a sense of mystery upon the future, "On their backs were vermiculate patterns that were maps of the world in its becoming". The extract alludes again to the past when reffering to the "earth on its beggining" this reiteration reinforces the author's possition on the returning to the past; but more importantly, it links to the phrase "...could not be put back" wich implies that even if the world is going back to its origins it will never regain its original glory. 


In conclusion, the ciclic structure of The Road is designed by McCarthy in order to reinforce his message  that tells us that we shall take care of our world.


Now, a music video to ANNOY Mr. Tangen!!!