Cormac McCarthy’s, The Road Assignment | Essay Help Services

In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, the man is extremely protective of the boy, his son. Even when the boy makes mistakes that can cost them their lives, the man continues to downplay his mistakes and even blames himself on occasion. Given the nightmare world they find themselves in, what do you make of the man’s attitude toward the boy? (I already wrote the essay for this topic, but the professor didn’t like it, so all you need to do is edit it

Rawan Alawadhi

Craig Loomis

ENGL 355 – 01

8 May 2020

Carrying the Fire

In McCarthy’s novel, The Road, the father and his son are on a journey to the south in a post-apocalyptic setting with only the thought of “carrying the fire” within their hearts. The term “carrying the fire” is a way of saying that the father and son need to carry on with their journey no matter the hardships they face, and to carry on the flame of what humanity once was. The “fire” may also represent the love that they feel for each other and their strength which is pushing them forward to carry on with their journey. The “fire” may also be their faith in a terrifying and dying world. Throughout the journey, the son is presented as the father’s inner “fire” and he will do anything to protect him even when it can cost them their lives.

The father’s love for his son is what gives him the strength to carry on with their journey and survive. The love between the father and son is very clear throughout the novel without the need for them to say it out loud. For example, when the boy asks his father what he will do if he dies,

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yes. Of course you can.”

“What would you do if I died?”

“If you died I would want to die too.”

“So you can be with me?”

“Yes. So I can be with you” (11)

The father always puts his son’s needs first such as food, safety, and warmth. He also takes care of his son’s health more than his own. For instance, when the man and the boy make camp in the mountains and before continuing their journey, they have a small breakfast of crackers, tinned sausages, and hot chocolate. The father drinks water instead of hot chocolate to give the rest to his son, “In a pocket of his knapsack he’d found a last half packet of cocoa and he fixed it for the boy and then poured his own cup with hot water and saw blowing at the rim.” (34) This quote shows the amount of love and sacrifice the father has for his son. Another example is when the man finds a can of Coca Cola, he handles it to his son to enjoy,

“He looked at his father and then tilted the can and drank. He sat there thinking about it.

It’s really good, he said.”

“Yes. It is.”

“You have some, Papa.”

“I want you to drink it.” (23)

The man’s love for the boy is magnificent in a world where some people eat their own children for survival, “a charred human infant headless and gutted and blackening on the spit” (167)

The father always makes sure to provide safety for his son even if it means risking his own. For example, the man handle’s the gun to the boy so he can protect himself as the father goes to their cart, left in the woods,

“Take me with you, the boy said. He looked as if he was going to cry”

“No. I want you to wait here.

“Please, Papa.”

“Stop it. I want you to do what I say. Take the gun.”

“I don’t want to take the gun.”

“I didn’t ask you if you wanted it. Take it.” (70)

The man does everything in his power to protect his son and make sure that the boy will not fall in the hands of the bad people. Furthermore, In the basement of a house they were scavenging, they find people who are kept as livestock then the father pushes his son out of there first and himself last, “He shoved the boy through the hatch and sent him sprawling. He stood and got hold of the door and swung it over and let it slam down and he turned to grab the boy but the boy had gotten up and was doing his little dance of terror.” (111)

In a world were humanity is no longer there, the father tries so hard to keep humanity inside the boy’s heart. He tells the boy stories to teach him about courage and justice, so he grows to be a good person, “He banked the fire against the seam of rock where he’d built it and he strung the tarp behind them to reflect the heat and they sat warm in their refuge while he told the boy stories.” (41) The boy, however, makes mistakes every now and then, but the father keeps encouraging him and blames himself on some occasions to keep his son’s high hopes. He wants to teach his son to be brave and to not be afraid of making mistakes,

“They ate in silence. After a while the boy said: I forgot to turn the valve, didn’t I?”

“It’s not your fault. I should have checked.” (176)

McCarthy shows how simple things can mean so much through his characters. The boy is very attached to his father and their relationship is very strong throughout the novel. The love that the father shares for his son is what is helping him survive and to “carry on the fire.” The fire represents many things in the novel, but the one thing which truly stands out is the fathers love for his son. The boy is the man’s only hope and faith which is left in a world full of darkness.

Works Cited

McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. Vintage International, 2006.