Cormac Mccarthy Symbolism In The Road

In Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel, The Road, McCarthy depicts the lives of his unnamed characters, the man and boy, in their attempt to survive in the decaying atmosphere and portrays the underlying meaning of the man’s love for the boy. Traveling through the “ravaged landscape” (back cover), the man and the boy head south in hopes to find any means which can help them, they continuously come across heinous dangers, but the man never fails to shield his son from harm. The apocalyptic “days are more gray” (1) than bright and the world is “barren, silent, godless” (4), in despondent juxtaposition to the place once known, which creates a vision of loss and hopelessness in the world which has fallen. Although they lack a proper abundance

The father tries to explain to his son how to use the pistol when he says “do it quick and hard” (113), in case the other people capture the boy while the father tries to lead the unknown people away from his child, even if it means he puts his life jeopardy, which creates the killdeer effect and proves the significant thought; a parent would do whatever it takes to protect their children. However, the father does not follow through with his plan because he “can't leave [the boy]” (113) who seems to be dressed in “terror”. McCarthy instills the man’s love for his child, again proving the theme, when the man begins to doubt and second guess his thoughts in his attempts to protect the boy which contributes to McCarthy’s overall theme that a parent will do whatever it takes to protect their child. The need for himself to survive in the apocalypse is not as important to the man in juxtaposition to the love and want for his son to be okay as

The father finds the man and immediately his survival instincts ignite in order to get their belongings back, because he fully knows, without them they will perish. The man cocks the pistol and holds the thief at gunpoint, even though there is only a singular bullet left in the revolver, and he instructs the thief what to do. McCarthy embraces the boy in godly symbolism, being the better person, as the young child begs his dad to not “kill the man” (256), and instead take the upper hand to do what is right. The message behind the novel grows as the father yearns to protect his son and ignores the boy and thief’s wishes while he continues to tell the unknown man to “take off [his] clothes… every goddamned stitch” (256) and return the cart to them to regain possession of their belongings and survive. The boy is hurt by his father’s actions and words, for they were meant to be the good guys, the ones “carrying the fire” (129), but instead, “[they]...kill him” (260). The boy’s and man’s relationship seems to be hurt by the turn of events, and although he feels guilty because he hurt his son, the man remains content with his actions about the situation because a parent will go to extreme measures to protect their children, even at the cost of