The Road [pg.101~150]

The Pianist



This book reminded me more and more of a movie called The Pianist as I continued reading the book, because the characters of both pieces were put in an amazingly similar situation.

The Pianist is about a Jewish pianist in the Nazi era who was forced to stay in the ghetto. He had seen so many people opressed in the ghetto including some of his family members and friends that he decided to escape. He survived in an empty compartment, but kept moving around so that the Nazis would not realize his existence. He is almost always deprived of food and proper clothings for bitter winter. Eventually he is found by a Nazi general who is amazed at the pianist's piano skill and is safely hidden by him.

When the characters of The Road confronts another group of "bad guys" who passes just over them, the man tells his son "Shh. No crying. Do you hear me? You know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quck and hard..." (pg. 113), I found it pretty syncronizing to a scene from The Pianist. As far as I remember, there was a scene where the pianist had to pretend to be dead among the dead bodies on the street when the Nazis patroled the area.

Another scene from The Pianist was when the pianist finally found a can of peach in a demolished, ruined house. He lacked so much energy from food deprivation that he couldn't even open the can--so he had to use a metallic bar to crush it open. In The Road, on the other hand, the two charcters find a temporary underground shelter full of food, clothings and water just before dying from starvation. Through the author's descriptions I was able to vividly illustrate the scene in my mind. "What is all this stuff, Papa?//It's food. Can you read it?//Pears. That says pears.//Yes. Yes it does." (pg. 139) When I read this line, I, myself was also excited that they found an abundant amount of supplies. It was just like the scene from The Pianist.

Reading this book, it tempted me to rewatch the movie--I remember watching it back in my 6th grade year, which is now mostly forgotten in my memories.