Change of scenery, a common term used to describe when someone is bored of their surroundings and wants a different place to let loose. Be it for feelings, inner wild side, or just to relax, there is always somewhere that I can go to be happy. But take that away when I’m upset and all hell can brake loose.


While reading your book, The Road, I quickly realized how much I truly have in terms of free space and availability with outside interaction. After starting to read your book, I had to take a drive to the store after being asked to pick up some groceries. I groaned as I slipped on my shoes and slumped out the door, but than I had a realization as to how the man and boy must have felt for such a simple task: to go find some food. While they looked for mere scraps to eat, I picked out everything my mom needed, in such a quantity that would make them drool. Realizing this, I didn’t feel nearly as weighted to do a simple chore, as it was only a twenty-minute drive.


Another luxury the book describes as a great monster to the man and boy: a simple car. I drive myself to where I need to without hesitation. During the story, the boy and man push their cart with everything they own inside. Upon seeing a car, they ditch the cart and hide as quickly as possible. Such an odd concept as at one time, I thought that cars were the scariest thing in existence, but because they were bigger than me and dangerous. The way the man and boy went pale and ditched everything they owned, like running from a wild bear, is a new type of fear that I have thankfully never experienced.


“You just need to put yourself in someone else's shoes and then see how they feel and then you will understand why they are reacting or why they are behaving the way that they are behaving.” -Navid Negahban

This quote perfectly described how I felt every time I read about the boy and man scavenging for any items to use for survival. Seeing advertisements of the poverty stricken countries is always a sad thing to see, and they always say to put you into their shoes. Now instead of having just a couple impoverished countries, I began to imagine, what if the entire world was in ashes? Shoes, warmth, and a full stomach becoming the biggest luxury anyone could imagine, as most of the time, it was a fantasy. I felt that whenever the boy was starving and cold, how helpless he must have felt, and how I could never imagine a boy at such a young age could live.


Never before, had I felt such an emotional connection with a character in a single book, but after finishing the book, I felt as though the moral of the story is that the only way to escape such a hell is to die. Which is the only downside of the story because of the sad fact: it’s true. The fact that everything seems to go wrong with the two survivors is what always seems to happen to me whenever I start off having a bad day. “Bad test, that means next hour is going to be worse.” But pushing on is what everyone should learn to do so that getting back on track is easier.

The sad truth of this story is that some people in my life feel as lonely and helpless as the man and boy. Although some things I can help them with, most of the time I feel helpless. This book really taught me to appreciate the most basic of luxuries: having friends and family, never being hungry, and always having a warm home to return to. This book is a great way to get a new perspective on life and be thankful for everything I have. So much to be thankful for, and now I can appreciate the poverty stricken countries and how terrible it would be to live that way.