Fire and Food

As the road continues McCarthy uses his usual gray descriptions but also provides further insight into our main characters. First off, they are father and son, surviving together in the post-apocalyptic barren wasteland. Secondly, they have no names, referred to as “the boy”, and “the man”, “he”, or “Papa”. The author definitely favors the father, referring to him as "he", and giving his thoughts and ideas more often. For example “He’d had this feeling before, beyond the numbness and the dull despair” (88), gives us the father’s immediate feelings. This creates a stronger connection between us as readers to the father, one who cares dearly for his son and his son’s protection. The father wants to provide the most he can for his son, but most of all hope. The son, as shown earlier in the novel, blatantly says he wants to die and give up but the father refuses to accept this statement. The son asks “Are we going to die now?”(87), which the father responds with “No” (87) and that “We’re going to drink some water. Then we’re going to keep going down the road” (88). The boy replies with “Okay”, his very common and accepting response. He knows and believes in his father and does not want to argue further. While the son can be stubborn at times, he always listens to his father in the end. His trust pays off when eventually they come across a resource filled bunker. The boy’s only response to a morning meal of coffee, ham, and biscuits is “Wow” (144). However to reach this point they have be always moving, and keeping their hopes up. Constantly moving, constantly searching for food and for shelter keeps the duo alive. This motif of movement is created by the father’s will to survive and especially to keep his son alive. Constantly moving is also shown at night when they make a fire, which requires many branches to keep burning.

       Fire provides warmth, something desperately needed in this environment, but also provides a purpose and something to do to be constantly moving. Also, fire is seen as a form of power as stated by the father that “nothing bad is going to happen to us...because we’re carrying the fire” (83). They seem to be making a fire every night, and searching for wood. “When he struck the lighter to the rich tinder the fire crackled instantly...I’ve got to go for more wood” (95). They look forward to making a fire, which signifies they lived another day and have overcome the day’s struggles. He would “[coax] the fire to life again” (96), ultimately keeping themselves alive. The parallel between the fire and the characters highlights the importance of fire in this novel. However, when they “dont have a lighter” (126), the boy is disappointed and the father “didnt want to tell [him]” (126). This dependence on fire as a motivation for survival has been consistent throughout the novel. Nevertheless, they never give up and look for “some flint” (127) to use with “the little bottle of gasoline” (127). This fiery passion to survive is the main reason they have been surviving for so long. “The cold drove [the father] forth to mend the fire”, keeping him moving and caring for his son. He is constantly restocking and searching for wood, but also looking for food.

       They had eventually run out of food after surviving off the little had in the beginning. This leads the boy to ask “Are we going to die now?” Not only does this make the boy hopeless, this creates a new feeling in the father, desperation. The father sees his son’s “sunken cheeks streaked with black” (96), causing him to feel rage. The father has been hopeful, and positive this whole journey but now he is feeling the impact of starvation but also the morbid environment. They manage to survive a bit longer and finally come upon “[A] house tall and stately with white doric columns across the front” (105). The father decides despite his son’s constant warnings that “We have to take a look” (106). His desperation for food has overcome his cautiousness and care for his son. He is not aware of what is ahead of him and blindly enters with a gun and a sole hope for food. Even when he is faced “with a large padlock made of stacked steel plates” (108), the father continues. “We’ve got to eat” (108). Unfortunately they did not find any food down the hatch, unless you like human flesh. A bunch of people were locked up to be eaten and our main characters walked right into it. They immediately book it out of the house and hide until the people hunting them go away. This scene gave me anxiety but definitely showed the desperation of the father to feed his child. Also, it shows his caring attitude and dedication to keeping his son alive. He had brought him into a dangerous situation but makes sure that his son stays alive. He even says he was “going to run...and lead them away” (113) creating a distraction to save his son. He values his son’s life over his own, making him a selfless, but strong and intuitive character. This intuition is showed further when he realizes his own mistake. “It was desperation that had led him to such carelessness and he knew that he could not do that again. No matter what” (117).

We’ll see if this desperation ever returns, despite their current life of luxury in a bunker filled with supplies.