5 Reasons Cormac McCarthy's The Road Should Be Taught In Schools
3. It's More Useful And Timely To Today's Students
This is a big one. There are many novels still being taught to kids today that simply no longer resonate with them. There's no longer a connection -- characters from a generation long lost. One specific book that comes to mind is William Golding's Lord Of The Flies. Now, I love this book but it was published back in 1954 and I don't know about you but kids today, almost sixty years later, have very little in common with kids from back then. It may be time to retire Lord Of The Flies and make room for something for timely like The Road. This book just has more to offer to today's teenager trying to make sense of the world they see outside their classroom window. The world has changed and so should the curriculum. Another issue with a book like Lord Of The Flies is how inherently masculine it is. What does that book have to offer to a young woman especially today but even back in 1954? The Road doesn't have any major female characters but it's not written in a masculine manner. The story could just as easily be a mother and her daughter or father and daughter -- there is no gender specificity. The Road is only concerned with the human element. An allegory for how life doesn't care if it gets in your way and whether or not it ran you over is a lesson for today's kid not a deconstruction on the struggle of man's ego and need to dominate.
I'm married and live in New York with my wife and pets. I'm a writer and definitely not a comedian (just ask my wife). I've successfully linked my twitter, goodreads, facebook and google+ pages although the successful aspect of all that is up for debate. I also started my own blog on wordpress and have just finished my first novel, The Violent Winds. Now it's time to try and trick some unsuspecting fool into buying it.
This is a big one. There are many novels still being taught to kids today that simply no longer resonate with them. There's no longer a connection -- characters from a generation long lost. One specific book that comes to mind is William Golding's Lord Of The Flies. Now, I love this book but it was published back in 1954 and I don't know about you but kids today, almost sixty years later, have very little in common with kids from back then. It may be time to retire Lord Of The Flies and make room for something for timely like The Road. This book just has more to offer to today's teenager trying to make sense of the world they see outside their classroom window. The world has changed and so should the curriculum. Another issue with a book like Lord Of The Flies is how inherently masculine it is. What does that book have to offer to a young woman especially today but even back in 1954? The Road doesn't have any major female characters but it's not written in a masculine manner. The story could just as easily be a mother and her daughter or father and daughter -- there is no gender specificity. The Road is only concerned with the human element. An allegory for how life doesn't care if it gets in your way and whether or not it ran you over is a lesson for today's kid not a deconstruction on the struggle of man's ego and need to dominate.