Ecoprecarity: An Exploration of McCarthy’s The Road

Abstract

Ecocritical texts aim to create a sense of ecological awareness through the exploration of the interdependence of nature and humankind. Ecoprecarity is a central theme of all the ecocritical texts. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road can be read as a part of the burgeoning field of climate fiction. This paper examines the idea of Ecoprecarity manifested in the vision of barren land, polluted rivers, grey sky and dead birds throughout the text. Woven into this segment of Ecoprecarity is also the portrayal of spectral cities and wastelands of the decadent sublime to generate the idea of a strange and unnatural kind of nature also known as 'ecological uncanny' in the post-catastrophic setting. McCarthy employs the juxtaposition of the old lost world with the contemporary alien world as a structural feature of his narrative, both visual and verbal. Emphasis is also given to the pathetic situation of leftover humanity stuck in an endless journey of survival.