Published in 2006, the book The Road by Cormac McCarthy depicts the life of a man and his son living in a post-apocalyptic world. They spend their lives journeying on the road, never straying too far for too long. The two of them encounter multiple people, good and bad, who influence them positively and negatively on their way to the south. In the midst of a world of chaos, McCarthy illustrates that the man’s outlook oscillates between hope and despair because his strong relationship with the boy strong produces hope whereas the surrounding area causes despair. With mainly each other as comfort, the man’s belief stems from the boy’s love and influence. However, the man still doubts how successful their journey will be. McCarthy relates the man and the boy to those that “wandered in a cave” when he alludes to Plato’s Allegory of the Cave (McCarthy 3). Plato’s Allegory of the Cave is a tale where prisoners in a cave are shackled to a wall, only able to see the shadows on the cave wall coming from the fire behind them. The boy is the man’s source of hope and guidance, illustrated by the child leading “him by the hand” through the cave (McCarthy 3). In this scene, the boy and the man have been freed from their shackles and are trying to find their way to the mouth of the cave. They believe that the end of the road in the south, or in this case the cave’s exit, will contain a more hopeful enlightened life. The fire and the light in the cave and world outside symbolize this hope
