The road ?

[focusjon]

I finished reading the road and I enjoyed the book. What apacalyptic event happened to cause perpetual winter and turn everyone into cannibals. I was always curious. I assumed asteroid strike or super volcano or something of that sort which caused the sun to be blocked out. Could someone please enlighten me?

[jkarr]

Originally Posted by focusjon

I finished reading the road and I enjoyed the book. What apacalyptic event happened to cause perpetual winter and turn everyone into cannibals. I was always curious. I assumed asteroid strike or super volcano or something of that sort which caused the sun to be blocked out. Could someone please enlighten me?

it was left open to interpretation...it was a way to show the bleakness better with no actually answaer...couldve being natural or manmade...its up to the reader

[kspence92]

I always felt it was a meteor impact, rather than a nuclear war like many people think. I dont think a nuclear war would cause such catastrophic weather patterns , though i could be wrong. A Supervolcano is actually very plausable, id never even thought of that before.

[rvbomally]

I doubt it's nuclear because nobody shows concern about radiation sickness. On the other hand, they could have just given up on living and don't care.

[The Gunslinger]

Originally Posted by rvbomally

I doubt it's nuclear because nobody shows concern about radiation sickness. On the other hand, they could have just given up on living and don't care.

When you've resorted to canibalism... the toxicity of your food is kind of a moot point.

[modelcitizen]

The fact that (SPOILER ALERT) the man scoops water from a stream and collects mummified apples from the ground for himself and the boy in a way that shows no concern for radiation contamination.



I was thinking meteor but super-volcano is growing on me.

[Asnys]

Originally Posted by modelcitizen

The fact that (SPOILER ALERT) the man scoops water from a stream and collects mummified apples from the ground for himself and the boy in a way that shows no concern for radiation contamination.

The book seems to be set a few years after whatever happened, happened. By that point radiation would have died down to levels that would be carcinogenic but would not cause acute effects, with the possible exception of some areas subjected to multiple groundbursts (e.g., missile fields). And the average onset time of radiation-induced cancer is measured in decades - which might as well be forever from the survivors' perspective.

It's been years since I read the book, but isn't there a scene where he remembers the day when it all started, and saw unspecified fireballs streaking through the sky? I always assumed those were reentering MIRVs, although they could be meteors, too. Or I could be misremembering - it's been a while.