Borrowed Time, Borrowed World and Borrowed Eyes: Care, Ruin and Vision in McCarthy's<i>The Road</i>and Harrison's Ecocriticism

Abstract

The following essay discusses Cormac McCarthy's The Road (2006) and its evocation of a post-apocalyptic ecology and memory. Drawing on certain insights from Robert Pogue Harrison's work on the cultural role of forests, gardens and the dead ancestor, it sheds light on various enigmatic aspects of McCarthy's novel, including the unspecified cause of the disaster, the future fate of nature and culture, and the elusive final paragraph.