‘Bad guys’
Good guy and bad guy characters are common themes of adventure tales. It could be argued that bad guys more importantly create solid storylines, twists and turns and the element of unpredictability. This is also mirrored in The Road. The reader is always in anticipation of when the ‘bad guys’ are going to appear, if they are going to come across the man and boy and if they are prepared and strong enough to defend themselves. The boy calling the horrendous characters the man and him come across, ‘bad guys’ represents the boy clinging on to the last threads of his childhood. Although he may have lost his childhood, been forced to grow up as mean of survival, he is still using childish phrases arguably showing the naivety if the boy. He may come across as boy with the sense, instinct and maturity of a man but deep down inside, I believe he is dumbfounded, he cant process the concept that ‘bad guys’ aren’t as fictional as they seem so instead he chooses to ignore it.
