The Man's Journey In The Road By Cormac Mccarthy

In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the boy and the man journey through a hellish world, full of dangers and darkness. It is a world that many people, like the wife, gave up on completely. However, the husband persists solely because of his devotion to his son. Without the boy, the man would have no motivation or purpose. This fact gives the boy power over the man, because the man has dedicated the rest of his life to protecting the boy. That power allows the boy to become a demon who makes the man’s life a living hell. Although the boy is not consciously acting as a demon, his actions and the power he unwittingly holds over the man still makes him act as his father’s tormentor. In this novel, the boy is a demon that torments and tempts the man.

I don’t think that you should touch him.
Maybe we could give him something to eat.” (163)
In this quote, the man clearly did not want to stay and help Ely, but yet the boy tempted him and in this case the man acquiesced. They end up sharing their meager food supplies with Ely, which in turn endangers them because it limits their food further. Every time the boy tempts the man to help others, it causes the man to have to choose between life and possible death. Throughout the novel, the boy constantly tempts the man to do things that are against the man’s better judgment, much like a demon tempts men to work against their will. Much like a demon, the boy keeps the man trapped in hell, torments the man by exploiting his fears, and tempts the man. The boy keeps the man in hell by giving him the motivation to keep living in this horrible world. He constantly torments the man’s thoughts through the man’s fears of losing or having to kill the boy. And finally, the boy repeatedly tempts the man to do things against the man’s better judgment. Even though the boy is not always conscious of his actions, he still acts as a demon looming over his father’s shoulder, causing his father all sorts of anguish and