The Comparative Study of Post-Apocalyptic Atmosphere in the Novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy and the Myths of the Holy Grail and the Fisher King

Cormac McCarthy's The Road, with its ashen, post-apocalyptic landscape, seems a conspicuous exodus from the realism of his earlier novels. Its horrendous atmosphere frustrates the readers and forces them to ask: what really has happened to the world? And is there any kind of salvation for modern man after the horrific post-apocalyptic era? In this novel McCarthy portrays some events which he thinks they are the impossible fate of human beings. He narrates a journey of a father and a son who try to survive after the civilization has been wiped off the face of the earth. The present study has analytic-comparative approach and its main objective is to prove that there is a close relationship between the postmodern novel of The Road and ancient myths of The Holy Grail and The Fisher King. In this research the emphasis is not on the characteristics of The Road as a postmodern novel, but on the myths which are older and more significant. In the post-apocalyptic world which everything is ruined, the only remedy of human being is seeking transcendentalism through myths. The world created upon individual benefit and expediency is doomed. The result of this research reveals that the only salvation for man is to build new moral principles regardless of individual benefit. In fact, the antidote which can cure this melancholic world is nothing but to have mercy upon others; in other words, for survival we need to have compassion and love for others without any condition or calculation.