The Tennis Shoe Army and Leviathan: Relics and Specters of Big Government in The Road
Differently than many other post-apocalyptic stories, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road offers scant evidence of either the influence of political events or ideas or of an authorial ambition to construct a vision of political order. To the extent that parallels can be drawn between the novel’s presentation...
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| Language: | English |
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European Association for American Studies
2017-12-01
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| Series: | European Journal of American Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12285 |
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| author | Robert Pirro |
| author_facet | Robert Pirro |
| author_sort | Robert Pirro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Differently than many other post-apocalyptic stories, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road offers scant evidence of either the influence of political events or ideas or of an authorial ambition to construct a vision of political order. To the extent that parallels can be drawn between the novel’s presentation of a tennis shoe army on the march, which resembles dream-like processions in other McCarthy novels, and Thomas Hobbes’ vision of an absolutist government as Leviathan, this essay argues that The Road can be seen as conveying an aversion to the impersonal rule of the bureaucratic state. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e15e9a2f16e24f36b1bab39c58eb6208 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1991-9336 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2017-12-01 |
| publisher | European Association for American Studies |
| record_format | Article |
| series | European Journal of American Studies |
| spelling | doaj-art-e15e9a2f16e24f36b1bab39c58eb62082025-01-06T09:09:16ZengEuropean Association for American StudiesEuropean Journal of American Studies1991-93362017-12-0112310.4000/ejas.12285The Tennis Shoe Army and Leviathan: Relics and Specters of Big Government in The RoadRobert PirroDifferently than many other post-apocalyptic stories, Cormac McCarthy’s The Road offers scant evidence of either the influence of political events or ideas or of an authorial ambition to construct a vision of political order. To the extent that parallels can be drawn between the novel’s presentation of a tennis shoe army on the march, which resembles dream-like processions in other McCarthy novels, and Thomas Hobbes’ vision of an absolutist government as Leviathan, this essay argues that The Road can be seen as conveying an aversion to the impersonal rule of the bureaucratic state.https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12285The Roadpost-apocalypsestate of natureLeviathanThomas Hobbes |
| spellingShingle | Robert Pirro The Tennis Shoe Army and Leviathan: Relics and Specters of Big Government in The Road European Journal of American Studies The Road post-apocalypse state of nature Leviathan Thomas Hobbes |
| title | The Tennis Shoe Army and Leviathan: Relics and Specters of Big Government in The Road |
| title_full | The Tennis Shoe Army and Leviathan: Relics and Specters of Big Government in The Road |
| title_fullStr | The Tennis Shoe Army and Leviathan: Relics and Specters of Big Government in The Road |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Tennis Shoe Army and Leviathan: Relics and Specters of Big Government in The Road |
| title_short | The Tennis Shoe Army and Leviathan: Relics and Specters of Big Government in The Road |
| title_sort | tennis shoe army and leviathan relics and specters of big government in the road |
| topic | The Road post-apocalypse state of nature Leviathan Thomas Hobbes |
| url | https://journals.openedition.org/ejas/12285 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT robertpirro thetennisshoearmyandleviathanrelicsandspectersofbiggovernmentintheroad AT robertpirro tennisshoearmyandleviathanrelicsandspectersofbiggovernmentintheroad |