ShmoopTube

Where Monty Python meets your 10th grade teacher.

Search Thousands of Shmoop Videos


Playlist Dystopian Literature 11 videos

0
1984
135157 Views

Well, if this book doesn't make you want to tape over your laptop camera, we don't know what will.

1
Brave New World
79224 Views

Brave New World is supposed be an exciting book about a negative utopia and the corrupt powers of authority. So where’s the big car chase? What's...

2
Lord of the Flies
103801 Views

Are humans civilized, or are we just savages waiting to come out? William Golding's novel Lord of the Flies tackles that question.

See All

The Road Part 4: Apocalypse 5179 Views


Share It!


Description:

Hoo, boy. An apocalypse. What brought it on? Our money’s on that one guy with the hair leaving One Direction. No society can survive when it finds itself so suddenly directionless.


Transcript

00:01

We speak student!

00:05

[ scream ]

00:06

The Road

00:07

Apocalypse

00:08

a la Shmoop

00:10

[ dog barks ]

00:12

What brought on the apocalypse?

00:16

You know, the only clue that we get in the book is

00:19

there's one line where --

00:20

It's a flashback to when the world, in theory, ended.

00:24

You see the man looking out the window with his wife.

00:27

And he hears a few low - he calls them concussion sounds.

00:31

And then a flash of light.

00:34

That's all we know.

00:36

You know, let your imagination run wild.

00:37

We kind of have to imagine that

00:41

there was something building up to it,

00:43

because when this happens,

00:44

the man starts running the tap water. It's a really cool scene.

00:48

He starts running the tap water

00:49

and he starts running the bath.

00:50

And his wife turns to him and says,

00:52

"Are you gonna take a bath?"

00:53

And he says, "No."

00:54

And you realize he knows he needs the water.

00:57

So he's turning -- He sees this and he knows.

01:00

He basically knows the world was ending.

01:01

So we kind of get this idea that something was

01:03

building up and it wasn't just this one thing that happened and everyone was like,

01:07

"What?" He kind of had this sense when it happened.

01:10

But again, not knowing what happened

01:11

makes it scarier. It's something we can't prevent.

01:14

It's something, you know, it might be happening to us right now

01:16

and we don't even know it.

01:18

When we see the movie, we kind of get the idea

01:19

that maybe it was a nuclear war.

01:21

The film kind of gives us that sense.

01:23

But we really have no idea and it kind of allows you to

01:26

basically take your absolute worst fear

01:28

and assume that that's what happened.

01:30

And that's part of what's so creepy about The Road.

01:33

[ pen writing ]

01:35

Do we know what brought on the apocalypse?

01:38

Why not?

01:39

Did the man know it was coming?

01:41

How do we know?

01:46

Isn't he that villain from X-Men?

Related Videos

The Importance of Being Earnest Summary
123038 Views

They say that honesty is the best policy, but Jack lies about his identity and still gets the girl. Does that mean we should all lie to get what we...

The Giver Summary
105893 Views

Ever wish you could remember everything that you ever studied? How about everything that everyone has ever studied? Yeah, pretty sure our brains ju...

Invisible Man (Ellison)
1818 Views

Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man is an American classic. Hope you're not expecting any exciting shower scenes though. It's not that kind of book.

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night
1256 Views

Do not go gentle into that good night. In fact, if it's past your curfew, don't go at all into that good night. You just stay in your good bed and...

Quotes: A fool's paradise
294 Views

Find out the meaning behind "a fool's paradise."