Human language and communication is the last vestige of human expression and the way that it is written reflects the broken landscape that they travel. The human mind responds to colours in various ways, but it’s one of the most effective ways we visually indicate tone, mood and presence in literature. Much of the time colour is used with poetic or symbolic significance and one of the most apparent ways readers end up visualizing the world is with one colour, gray. In the author’s own words. The Road has since it’s publishing, become ubiquitous in further developments and exploration of post-apocalyptic literature and media. The idea of apocalyptic writings as fables or warnings for humankind to measure their actions is a concept as old as time, but what makes The Road unique is how it uses this setting to explore the human condition pushed to the limits, and in a way serves as its own lesson on how the world will continue on if society breaks down, while also giving subtle hints to the wider causes for the apocalypse. Through these literary devices and methods, McCarthy gives us a vivid image of a broken and desolate post apocalypse, one of the most effective visuals for such a setting to date, and the image of these wandering souls trying to find purpose in this skeletal remains of society has become iconic in modern American literature.