The Road: Relationship Between the Father and Son

With each repetition, the man appeals to a different, implied component of the Holy Trinity, each to no avail. Behind the simplicity of each iteration a question is asked: why? The man’s experience in the cellar has confirmed his musing that if there really was a God, he would not abandon them in this way, forcing humans to eat one another, His own sacred creatures, in order to survive. Moving past the Cellar Scene and continuing with him for the remainder of his journey is the fact that the man’s focus has been shifted to a new savior, one who will continue to carry the fire of humanity and love and never allow its flame to be extinguished. This savior is the boy. The boy embodies the characteristics of the new world, one of compassion, generosity, kindness, and hope, a world that will rise anew from the ashes. While the man is beginning to realize his son’s role, he still faces an internal conflict as his selfish instinct to shield the boy from the horrors of the world obstructs his understanding of the critical role the boy plays as the carrier of the fire. Dark, tumultuous thoughts wrestle in the man’s mind on page 114 as he asks himself “Can you do it? When the time comes?” After being exposed absolute corruption in the cellar, the man contemplates, doing possibly the worst thing he could - murder his son - in order to save the boy’s

In The Road by Cormac McCarthy (2006) a father and son illustrate dedication towards each others lives by surviving in a post-apocalyptic world. Through hard times both characters deal with facing death and admitting that they both want to die, but they depend on one another to continue survival in this dreadful world. McCarthy describes this as a recurring theme throughout the book. The idea of death is a constant threat, but through reliance and love of others one can persevere.

The father knows that his dream of knowledge and university will never be fulfilled, and consequently, tries to accomplish this goal through his children. In doing so, he also sacrifices his relationship with his wife who despises him and his “room and all it stood for” (MacLeod 266). They both try to maintain a positive atmosphere in the house, regardless of their differences, by working hard to raise their children. As the only boy in the family, the narrator idolizes his father and eventually begins to believe that “it was very much braver to spend a life doing what you really do not want rather than selfishly following forever your own dreams and inclinations” (MacLeod 274). As a result, the narrator promises to help and protect his father until he dies, and the father, in return commits to the ultimate sacrifice of death to set his son free. The author is showing that true love goes beyond life itself and that no sacrifice is too great for a parent in order to give their children the chance of a better life. By implementing the seed of knowledge in his children, the father knew that his sacrifice is not in vain,

This also ties in with the theme of hope and belief. They follow god to find the answer to their problems but his dad is saying why only when bad things happen why do you ask why when there ould be just as good of a reason behind something good happening to

Companionship plays an important role in the storyline of this novel. The bond between the father and son gives them the love they need in order to keep them in touch with humanity.

The relationship between the boy and his father is very profound throughout the whole book. It is mainly based off the key concept of trust

Instead of taking part in those acts of survival, the boy and the man use each other's presence to continue with the grueling journey in search of civilization and humanity. The man and the boy held on to the hope they will travel south and live a normal life, escaping their current state of living. Their ambition and belief allow them to go through every day confident that, things will change for the better. The Man encourages his son through their journey on into the unknown and tells him that for him to survive he must travel south, do what they had done throughout their endeavors, and 'find the good guys'. This is a repetitive phrase throughout that novel that means the boy should meet up without individuals similar to them who haven’t resorted to cannibalism and dehumanization because catastrophe has struck, there is distrust in the natural world, fear, and alienation. But the reassurance the father gives his son to helps him continue the journey and strengthen their bond. The boy also symbolizes strength and dreams, the reason the man is alive is that of the boy. He helps him dream of the future. The boy’s curiosity helps the man remember good memories of his childhood, and he

The boy and the father have strong morals demonstrating a high level of authenticity, especially in a world where morality is extremely uncommon. To be ‘authentic’ means to genuinely be yourself. Although, as presented by Existentialism, one cannot be their true self until one has defined themselves. First, one must create their authentic selves, then they must live according to that (Varga). The father and the boy have strong principles to do what is right, even when their fellow survivors have completely abandoned morality altogether. At times, the father struggles with following said principles, however, he then justifies his actions which are purely for the safety of his son. This depicts that the father will do anything and everything to assure that the boy lives. The father expresses that “He knew only that the child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God God never spoke” (5). When a man holds a knife to the son's neck, the father does not hesitate to kill him. Although this is

In his own childish way, the boy is still loyal to his father, and still sees him as a parental figure, even though he’s being activilt hurt by him, the boy seeks out his abuser for comfort.

The father decides that they cannot wait for the two inhabitants of the town to come along, and, even if they did, there were not enough supplies to maintain them all. The fate of the two are left unknown, but we are led to believe the worst. A similar case occurs when they come across a large house. Inside the house, in the basement, a prison filled with beaten human livestock, including a man who has had his legs grafted to his pelvis. Instead of risking his and his son’s lives to save the masses of people, both travelers rush into the woods to escape the cannibals. At the end of the book, after the father’s death, the boy decides to forge southward, thus upholding his father’s dream. The son’s future and that of humanity is left unknown. The future and previous actions of these individuals are left for the reader to decide and to

The man and the boy believe they find what they need in moments of desperation because they are being rewarded for being good. They are always stuck in the middle of the unconscious and the real. They are always force to see the world, the reality before thinking of the unconscious, the good side of morality and god. The man is stuck in a dilemma of if there is a god or not, he is constantly doubting while still wanting to believe that there is no god. He finds another reason to use his ethnics and morals, the boy. The man is still forced to see some good in the world because he does not want to believe that his son was made to live in a world where there is no longer any humanity. The boy makes the man see the good. He makes the man want to be moral to believe that by being good the boy will be rewarded with a good life. Their morality has a limit. Early in the novel, the man and the child encounter a man who has recently been struck by lightning and is clearly at the point of death. The child wants to help him, but

On page 279, the man says, “It’s inside you. It was always there. I can see it.” (McCarthy 279). What he sees is the fire inside of his son. He often tells the boy that they’re the “good guys” who “carry the fire”. It’s crucial that the boy continues to carry it, since it represents goodness and humanity. If he lets the fire die, then all hope for the world is gone. Besides, what they went through in order to survive would mean nothing if he decided to quit. The boy carries “the fire” by showing compassion towards others. He constantly thinks about them (including those who are evil), and wants to help in some way. An example is on page 162, where the man and the boy meet Ely. “The boy squatted and put a hand on his shoulder. He’s scared, Papa.

In order for a child to live in a complete and happy family, the paternal love plays a major role in a child’s life, especially the love of a father which is as much important as a mother’s love. Moreover, a father’s love is one of the greatest influences on the child’s personality development throughout his/her life. A father’s love brings a sense of protection of security in a child. In the novel The Road, Cormac McCarthy present the great example of paternal love. The novel deals with a post-apocalyptic story about an unnamed man and his unnamed child as they move toward the south to find a better place to live after the catastrophic event. The son is the only reason for the father

The boy who travels with his father finds purpose to survive in believing that they will one day find the good guys. In this he believes that they themselves carry the torch of being the good guys and finds hope in that. Throughout the novel, the boy expresses his heart for helping others several times when he gives an old scraggly man on the road a can of peaches, pleading to help a man who got struck by lightning, and by being worried about a boy who was alone they had passed on the road. The boy evidently through his actions expresses a need to help others. When the boy spotted another little boy from the road, he ran over to where he had seen him and searched for him. When the Father saw that the boy ran off, he grabbed the boy by the arm and said “‘Come on. There’s no one to see. Do you want to die? Is that what you want?’” Sobbing, the boy replied, “I don’t care, I don’t care” (85). The boy sees the little boy as alone with nothing and he feels like it is his responsibility to his own