Friday, November 02, 2007
Fate and faith
Did you correctly guess the ending, that the man would die and the boy would fall in with the Good People? I think I had a weird kind of faith that that would happen. There wasn't much in the book to give rise to that faith, except maybe the sheer power of love between the two. Do you think the man himself had that faith about the boy's fate?
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5 comments:
He must have. How else could he possibly have felt OK about saying goodbye and sending him off alone?
I wasn't sure what to expect with the ending. I figured that one or both of them would die, but I actually expected something more tragic than what actually happened. I felt silly being optimistic about it. I was pleasantly surprised with what McCarthy did at the end. It was satisfying to me.
Did we even encounter "the good people" before the very end? I wasn't sure they existed beyond the boy and his father. I was devestated when they reached the beach and there was no one there, only the chance to scavenge anew. And when their stuff was stolen off the beach, I thought it was all over. Even the ending seemed bleak to me. I suppose we could imagine a good and safe life for the boy with those who sheltered him but...
Well, some of the people we encountered might have been good, or at least harmless, but there didn't seem much to go on. Everyone was in such a posture of defensiveness or resignation or self-preservation or desperation (like the prisoners in the basement begging for help) that there didn't seem much ground or trust upon which to forge connections. Our two seemed very Good to us because we traveled with them, we got to know their hearts, but maybe to others (like the people in the basement) they didn't seem especially good.
It was just a world where connections with other people seemed impossible.
I had the same feeling about the end. It was hopeful in that he found people who apparently were going to be good to him, but wasn't his long-term fate very bleak? I suppose it goes back to the question that came up with his parents, a choice he'll encounter himself: Do I want to keep going? Does the love and companionship I've found with these people redeem the world's awfulness and make living worthwhile?
Perhaps that's the power of the book.
Does the love and companionship I've found with these people redeem the world's awfulness and make living worthwhile?
Because this is everyone's question. Its a deeply spiritual question.
I love how you stated it. You know we call the church (cause Paul did) "the body of Christ" so at our best, I believe we do (as we love and companion one another) have a part in redeeming the world and its awfulness. Of course that is happening outside the church too. And many many times churches fail miserably to live as Christ's body. They cause the awfulness instead of acting as an agent of redemption.
"The Body of Christ" is a notion I can see McCarthy being down with.
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