Prepare: Why People Hate "The Road"

Up front, "The Road" is a best seller fiction title by Cormac McCarthy which describes the harrowing journey of an unnamed man and his son across a post-apocalyptic America. The world is cold, dying (even plant life), and there is very little left to eat other than salvage.  The beginning and end of "The Road" are vague, depressing and cruel and leave most readers feeling depressed and despondent after reading.

"The Road" was eventually adapted for the big screen and was released in 2009 in limited release. It is available now on NetFlix, pay per view or the video rental box.

Reading any of the numerous preparedness and survival themed boards, the subject of the movie or book comes up frequently. As it is a survival themed, futuristic story and very well publicized, most of us have been exposed to "The Road" in some way.

The verdict from many SHTF fiction fans is unanimous: They hate "The Road". Not just your garden variety, "thought is was boring or preposterous", but "want to burn the book and have the movie banned" type of hate.

I thnk the reasons for this are many.

Preparedness and survival mindsets are all about avoidance. Avoiding starvation, violence, deprivation, slavery, or homelessness. "The Road" tosses that out the window as the protagonsists spend the entire story in constant confrontation with hunger and violence.

Your run of the mill survivor likes to think that he has most scenarios covered and in a real "SHTF situation", would be able to assemble or join a group of like minded survivors. T"The Road" has the heroes alone and out of options most of the book.

Some survivalist minded folk gravitate towards firearms aspects of stories and enjoy reading about the capabilities and capacities of the story subjects armory and choice of weapons. "The Road" has one gun with two rounds of ammunition. And there are no piles of weapons recovered after battles or located in forgotten National Guard armories. Gun wise, "The Road" is boring.

"The Road" has a hero with no list of preps, no long winded explainations on how he assembled, purchased or obtained numerous doohickeys and wonder devices. There are no laborious descriptions and advice for highlighting prep readers.

The book is a let down for these people as it is missing all the standard elements they deem necessary in a good survival themed story. 

It seems many survivalist fiction fans need stories with some or most of the following elements:

- The hero has his bases covered; a strategically located retreat, stored food, several different firearms, a vehicle, fuel, heat and energy sources.

- The hero has compatriots. A supportive and like minded spouse, friends with the same mindset, the companionship and respect of someone with authority such as a local sheriff or military commander. Everyone seems to enjoy working together to raise food, build fortifications and repel bad guys. And there's a back slap or big grin around every corner in the post-apocalyptic world as every conflict is resolved in one chapter or less.

- The hero has a somewhat functioning world: Food can be grown, supplies can still be located or salvaged, there is a tidy method to deal with enemies, characters can travel from one location to another.

- Antagonists are predictable; they have names like Scrag or Greasey, have clear cut criminal motives, will attack at convenient times and are eventually defeated.

- Death is acceptable and surmountable; deaths of enemies or compatriots is quickly dealt with and dismissed, there is no mental anguish or grief, civilized people quickly accept the current scenario and deal death without remorse or question.

"The Road" did not adhere to what fans expected and wanted. Moreover, "The Road" did not fulfill the desire to see success in a post-apocalyptic world and so, it could not be considered a worthy title or film.

As for myself, I take a different tact. I enjoyed the book as a work of literature and fiction, (I thought the movie was so-so). From a preparedness scenario, it opened my eyes to a completely worse case world that some sort of mental preparedness is needed.

As they say, your mileage may vary on "The Road".