Editing Road to Perdition (section)

==Themes==
===Consequences of violence===
{{Quote box|width=40%|[What's] important, in this story, is what the violence does to the person who pulls the trigger, and what it has done to them over the years, how it has gradually corroded them. It has rotted their insides.|Sam Mendes<ref name="Paul" />}}
The film's title, ''Road to Perdition'', is both Michael Sullivan and his son's destination town and a euphemism for [[Hell]], a road that Sullivan desires to prevent his son from traveling. Sullivan, who chooses his violent path early on in life, considers himself irredeemable and seeks to save his son from a similar [[destiny|fate]]. Said Mendes, "[Sullivan] is in a battle for the soul of his son. Can a man who has led a bad life achieve redemption through his child?"<ref name="Road">"Taking the Road". Production Notes. ''Road to Perdition'' (2002). Retrieved 2007-06-06.</ref> Hanks described Sullivan as a man who achieved a comfortable status through violent means, whose likely repercussions he ignored. Sullivan is a good father and husband but also has a job that requires him to be a violent killer. The film explores this paradoxical [[dichotomy]]. When Sullivan is faced with the consequences, Hanks says, "At the moment we're dropped into the story, it is literally the last day of that false perspective."<ref name="Fathers">[http://www.roadtoperdition.com/home.html "Fathers & Sons"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615045052/http://www.roadtoperdition.com/home.html |date=2007-06-15 }}. Production Notes. ''Road to Perdition'' (2002). Retrieved 2007-06-06.</ref> To keep Sullivan from justifying his violent actions in the film, Mendes omitted scenes in the final cut that had Sullivan explaining his background to his son.<ref name="Killer" />

In the film, most of the numerous acts of violence are committed off-screen. The violent acts were also designed to be quick, reflecting the actual speed of violence in the real world. The focus was not on the direct victims of the perpetuated violence but on the impact of violence on the perpetrators or witnesses to the act.<ref name="Paul" />

===Fathers and sons===
The film also explores father-son relationships between Michael Sullivan and his son, Sullivan and his boss, John Rooney, and between Rooney and his son Connor. Sullivan simultaneously idolizes and fears Rooney, and Sullivan's son feels the same about his father. Rooney's son, Connor, has none of Sullivan's redeeming qualities, and Rooney is conflicted about whom to protect: his biological son or his surrogate son. Connor is jealous of his father's relationship with Sullivan, which fuels his actions, ultimately causing a [[domino effect]] that drives the film.<ref name="Fathers" />

Because Sullivan shields his background from his son, his attempt to preserve the father-son relationship is actually harmful. Tragedy brings Sullivan and his son together.<ref name="American">{{cite news|author=Sperling Reich, J. |url=http://reel.com/reel.asp?node=features/interviews/sammendes |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071014111141/http://reel.com/reel.asp?node=features%2Finterviews%2Fsammendes |archive-date=2007-10-14 |title=American 'Perdition' |access-date=2007-07-25 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Sullivan escapes from the old world with his son, and the boy finds an opportunity to strengthen the relationship with his father. Tyler Hoechlin, who portrayed Michael Jr., explained, "His dad starts to realize that Michael is all he has now and how much he's been missing. I think the journey is of a father and son getting to know each other, and also finding out who they themselves are."<ref name="Fathers" />

===Rain===
Rain served as a [[Motif (narrative)|motif]] in the film. It was developed after research for the wake scene at the beginning of the film informed the director that corpses were kept on ice in the 1930s to keep bodies from decomposing. The notion was interwoven into the film, which linked the presence of rain with death.<ref name="Circa">[http://www.roadtoperdition.com/home.html "Circa 1931"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070615045052/http://www.roadtoperdition.com/home.html |date=2007-06-15 }}. Production Notes. ''Road to Perdition'' (2002). Retrieved 2007-06-06.</ref> Mendes reflected on the theme, "The linking of rain with death ... speaks of the mutability of rain and links to the uncontrollability of fate. These are things that humans can't control."<ref name="Circa" />