The Road: A Breakdown of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs In Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, “The Road”, a man and his young son find themselves on a journey fighting for survival through a dark and desolate world. With no identity or any hope in the future, the characters are faced with many compromising decisions. Two levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the physiological and safety levels provide the most motivation and validation for the characters’ actions throughout the novel. There are 5 major levels to Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs; physiological, safety, emotional, esteem, and self-actualization (Maslow 1). The way that this system works is that in order to achieve the fifth level of fulfillment of needs, you must first meet …show more content…
They encountered a man on the road that had been struck by lightning and was also suffering from starvation. The boy wanted to turn back and help the wounded stranger, but the man had to explain to the boy that they did not have enough of anything to share with him (McCarthy 49-52). They barely had enough to take care of themselves, and if they gave away anything that they had, they would be more likely to starve. It was a decision between their own lives and others’. There was also another occasion where the man and boy were on the beach and were robbed of most of their belongings (McCarthy). If they did not chase the thief down and retrieve them, they would have most definitely suffered. The thief’s explanation for what he did was because he was starving and didn’t want to die. His needs were not being met either. Events turned up for the man and his son later on in the novel when they come across an abandoned house with a bunker full of stored food and goods (McCarthy 138). For the first time on their journey they had an acceptable place to live. Physiological needs such as shelter, food, and water were finally met. Although this was only a temporary stay, the man and his son got enough of what they needed at the moment too remain alive and needs were
that it’s "too late to save your old father. You could have two rations of bread, two rations of soup. "(pg 111) This explores the brutal price of survival, which can come at the expense of another’s life, yet there's still a sense of camaraderie as prisoners encourage others to focus on their own survival, however, this survival instinct often leads to disregarding the
The father’s son saw this and attacked him. The little boy eventually killed his father for a tiny piece of bread. The starving little boy needed something to eat, even if it meant killing his own father. This shows that the prisoners would do anything for something to
The acclaimed novel, The Road, a post-apocalyptic fiction written by Cormac McCarthy, weaves a compelling narrative that delves into the themes of innocence, father-son relationship, and the struggle between good and evil. Throughout the book, McCarthy portrays a tragic yet motivating story of the two characters, the father, and the son, through various challenges that make them question if they are the "good guys." Upon thoroughly examining the novel, the themes and ideas explored in The King James Bible and The Odyssey resonate in The Road, highlighting the
In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road a man and his son travel in a post-apocalyptic world in search of nothing but survival. Throughout the story the two main characters are left nameless, so that you as the reader can use their traits to identify them. The man and the boy are almost complete opposites with their characteristics. For example, the man is numb to most of the gore in their world, while the boy can’t handle most of graphic scenes they’ve encountered. The boy could be defined as being mature beyond his years, having a sensitive soul, and a compassionate heart.
We never think of the other people in life who are struggling to buy their own food, having a hard time to support their families. In Night it explains throughout the book where people fight for food and water. That they try everything in their will to stay alive. “Dozens of men fought desperately over a few crumbs” (100). Our society has become immune to being better than those who don’t have what we have be started to ignore or forget about the less fortunate.
In unison with A Christmas Carol and A Diva’s Christmas Carol, the theme of greed presents itself in many political cartoons. It is very common nowadays to use political cartoons in order to poke fun at real problems happening in the world. In a specific cartoon by John Cole, lies Ebenezer Scrooge holding a newspaper titled “Senate Gop Oks Huge Tax Cut.” Following this text, it reads “Trillion-Dollar Debt To Benefit The Rich - Social Services Face ‘Reform’.” Not to mention, when we analyze Scrooge’s character, we see him flashing a smile and exclaiming “Now that’s how a ‘Humbug’ is done.”
They didn't have much food and they were only eating little things like bird and fish. They were starving and there was no doubt about it. When someone has very little to eat for a long period of time they will begin to starve, and it is hard to overcome hunger. Although, if they held off from eating the cattle just a little longer then all the men could have stayed
Annotated Bibliography McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print. The Road is set in a grim atmosphere.
Valjean and his sister were poor and could not provide the essential needs for his family. He was not stealing for himself but was stealing to help his family out. Sadly he got caught and was sent to prison. This was one of many of his selfless acts that he did to put his life in danger. Furthermore, “Then without saying a word, he
Some days they go hungry, the weather uproots their lives, and other hindrances place a awful, dark outlook on life. Cormac Mccarthy writes about a disgusting world. It is the dying of lie on the planet, the end of the world. Not only do the gruesome events in the novel led the reader to take an opposing view, but even the setting of the novel
From an excerpt of Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott, the March sisters chose to help the poor German immigrant family because they knew in their hearts that the right thing to do was help the family in need in spite of giving up their Christmas breakfast. According to the passage,”Jo exclaimed impetuously, "I'm so glad you came before we began” (Alcott para 33). Even though the march sisters really wanted to eat their scrumptious breakfast they knew that giving it up to the immigrant family was the right thing to do. When they thought of giving up their food it made feel them heartbroken, but then they realized that it's not about them. They knew that that poor immigrant family was hungry, tired, and sick and that’s what made them realize
This shows that he steals from the food safe because he does not get enough food. In the story, the families had to survive with little amounts of
Pelayo and his wife are ready to get rid of the old man who is still weak even after he had led to the recovery of their only child. The two were not concerned about what would happen to the old man after they put him on a raft and set him to sea with only provisions for three days because he was of no use to them (García, 8). This situation is only changed when they discover that they could benefit from him by charging the people who came to see him at their home. What is sad is that even then, they do not bother to offer the old man a better place to stay but they just left him with the chicken as they gained wealth from letting other people humiliate him.
1. Introduction “The safety of the people shall be the highest law” – Marcus Tullius Cicero Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs (figure 1) shows that along with the physiological needs, the basic human needs also include Safety and Security needs, and there lies the importance of considering safety and security through design. In order to live a life that is unlikely to be taken away prematurely, we must have a sufficient level of protection in place. This explains our desire as humans for a neighbourhood that is safe to reside in, health care and insurance, some form of shelter, and a job that is secure and pays enough for us to live properly. Figure 1 – Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs (source: http://www.teach-nology.com)
The theory dictates that people must reach each level of need to go to the next one. The first level is physiological needs, or the basic needs of survival such as, food, water, air, and shelter. The second level is safety and security of several forms. So, theoretically humans would need food and water before they could feel any level of security. Additionally, the third level is the feeling of belongingness and love that humans desire.