Movie Review of The Road by Cormac McCarthy Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Of The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Movie Review Example I am Legend is another 2007 post-apocalyptic tale based on the novel of the same name, which tells the story of Dr. Robert Neville, a lone survivor of a lethal disease outbreak, which was initially meant to be a cure for cancer. Neville’s family perished in an accident during the evacuation and ever since then, he only lives to find a cure and other survivors in the area. The Road and I am Legend incorporate similar character arcs and themes, of which the most dominant theme is that of loneliness. Neville has his dog, while the unnamed protagonist in The Road fights for the survival of him and his son, they are completely isolated in their endeavors. They live in constant fear of the antagonists, who are actively chasing and pursuing them, which has destroyed the basic concept of a home and pushed humanity to primitive way of life, where they lived in constant fear of being attacked by other beasts. Both Neville and Cormac’s protagonist were victims of a global unrest, which was out of the locus of their control. However, the antagonists in I am Legend were simply infected and had no control over their actions, but in The Road, the cannibals were conscious individuals, who had resorted to eating people in order to survive. Hence, while I am Legend, establishes the antagonists as mere victims, The Road tries to underline a gruesome aspect of human behavior that stemmed from a primal instinct of ‘survival of the fittest’. The cannibals were conscious individuals who had willingly chosen to eat their peers or be eaten, therefore reinforcing the concept that human beings would go to any extent in order to salvage themselves. Both stories follow a similar progression of events, along with similar character transformation but they were brought about by different catalysts. For instance, Neville is pushed to the edge and comes to terms with his mortality after losing his last remaining family member, his dog. On the other hand, Cormac’s protagonist