A Mercy By Toni Morrison And The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

Religion has had a major impact on humanity for thousands of years. Humans have used religion to explain the unknown or major events that occur in life. In order for religion to exist, one must put faith in its teaching and beliefs in order for the philosophy to have meaning. But, faith does not only apply to religion. In the novels A Mercy by Toni Morrison and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, characters are inspired by faith and reliance in each other and not by faith in religion. Through a close reading of both texts, the reader can see faith as it is functioning as hope in the novels and how the newly defined faith highlights the ineffectiveness of traditional religion. Religion requires faith and trust in God, but how is one supposed to†¦show more content†¦Putting God on terms of humanity, one will look to others for faith when they see that religion has failed, just like how the man seems to have faith in the boy. This idea is also present in A Mercy when Rebekka is sent to Jacob to be his wife. Rebekka comes from a very traditional religious family. Her mother and father are not exactly ideal parents and have been corrupted by religion. Rebakka’s parents abandon her and Rebekka’s lack of faith in religion is obvious: â€Å"Religion, as Rebekka experienced it from her mother, was a flame fueled by a wonderous hatred† (Morrison 87). Now being sent off to Jacob, Rebekka has to put all her faith in Jacob and what he has to offer. Without having faith in a God to provide her with guidance and answers to her situation, Rebekka has to look to Jacob in order to get some direction into her life. They rely on each other for everything and states, â€Å"They leaned on each other root and crown. Needing no one outside their sufficiency† (102). It is important that characters in both novels are not defined by religion and how this freedom from religion allows them to have faith in other characters and not from a God. This allows them to have control over their own decisions and not justify their destiny as an act from God. Even when one tries to put faith in religion, religion still falls short of expectations. Religion is supposed to give a sense of guidance and purpose to