The Road by Cormac McCarthy discussion

The Road

The post-apocalyptic wasteland of McCarthy's "The Road" is filled with imagery of death and darkness. The boy and man wander south down the road towards an unseen destination, running into murderers, cannibals, burned corpses, fires and ash. Apart from the occasional soda or canned meal, the characters are given no break against the barren and broken remains of the crumbling world. Yet, despite the seemingly endless horrors that face then, they push on with their wills to live intact. Why is that? How does one maintain their will to live when almost all that surrounds them is death and hopelessness? There isn't a single answer for both the man and the boy. The man and the boy largely have different reasons to push forward into the wastes.

The man is sick and sleepless. Where does his will to live stem from? Although the book doesn't explain it outright, it is apparent that he is an atheist, or at least agnostic. On page 12 the mans says, "Have you a heart? Damn you eternally have you a soul? Oh, god..." Later on in the novel the man says, "Do you think that your fathers are watching? That they weigh you in their ledgerbook? Against what? There is no book and you fathers are dead in the ground (pg. 198)" The thought signifies his skepticism towards any form of an afterlife, or any haven with a God. Practically, if not completely, faithless, the man's will to live lies with his son. "All things of grace and beauty such that one holds them to one's heart have a common provenance in pain. Their birth in grief and ashes. So, he whispered to the sleeping boy. I have you (Page 54)." Whether his devotion stems solely from a paternal love or also a hope for the future in unclear, but in McCarthy's post-apocalyptic wasteland, his son is without a doubt the single reason for his continued existence.

The boy's will to live is more complex. He lives not only for the life of his father, but also to "carry the fire". The symbol of fire typically signifies the presence of god such as in the story of Moses and the burning bush in the book of Exodus (3:1-21), in which Moses is appointed by God to lead Israelites out of Egypt. Similarly, it is the boy's duty to lead humankind forward. The man knows he is dying. Despite his own skepticism towards God, he consistently reinforces ideas of faith such as this so his son has something to live for after his death. The man doesn't want his son to loose faith like he has. "He wrapped him in his own parka and wrapped him in the blanket and sat holding him, rocking back and forth. A single round left in the revolver. You will not face the truth. You will not (pg. 68)." The man sees that without faith, his son could loose his will to live on his father's deathbed. So, the man consistently reinforces that the boy's life revolves around "carrying the fire". With that in mind, he lives on after his father's death. He continues to talk to his father and to God. He joins others of faith, walking down the road towards a surprisingly hopeful future.

The 19th century philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer argued that love, "is more important than all other aims in man's life; and therefore it is quite worthy of the profound seriousness with which everyone pursues it." Both the man and the boy's will to live stem from love. The man's paternal love for his son drives his protective nature. The boy's "fire" stems not only from his father's love, but also his love for human kind. Unlike his father, the boy has faith in the belief that humankind is innately good. Every time they meet a meager or helpless character along the road, the boy demands that they help them. He is a beacon of sympathy in an otherwise unsympathetic world, carrying the fire of compassion into the future.

It's a rather simple essay, but you drive home two excellent points in the body paragraphs. Excellent quotes from the book and Schopenhauer.

You're right that fire is frequently used as a symbol for God, but here I think it's much more than merely a divine symbol.

In order to avoid dropped quotes, end the sentence with a colon before you go into the quote.

So do you think that the father indoctrinating the son with religious faith (if that's what he did) was merely a pragmatic move, intended to encourage the son's survival, rather than any gesture towards truth?