Necessities Of A Child In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road

A Child 's Necessities “Childhood should be carefree, playing in the sun; not living a nightmare in the darkness of the soul.” ― Dave Pelzer. Pelzer’s quote channels many voices and thoughts as to how we treat our children. How parents treat their children reflects how they perform towards others. In a stereotypical family, it is ideal and typical that the relationship between the parents and a child are passionate, protective, and treasured, but in other families, this is completely reversed. The child is an abomination to the family, un-cared for and physically abused. Abuse is unacceptable and can impact a great deal of a child’s life. In society, every family should establish a solid and painless relationship between a child and parent …show more content…
If the abuser is the parent, the unhealthy relationship between a child and the parent can lead the child to the wrong and dangerous path. In The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the child is not abused but is cherished by his father during their rigorous post apocalyptic journey. The father values his son more than his own life, putting himself at high risk of death. Throughout the novel the man is seen saying, “I want you to wait here” (McCarthy 132), making it obvious that the son is of great value to him. Also from beginning to end, the man offers survival advice, telling his son from right and wrong like a typical parent should do. They stumble upon a box of peaches and the child asks “Is it okay for us to take it?” (McCarthy 139), the father responds “yes. It is” also including it was someone else’s but they “would have wanted us to”. The son looks to his father for directions and the son follows them willingly. Without guidance, the youth can’t mature properly or will have the wrong way of viewing things. The Road also proves the point that if a child is raised and taught correctly, his future will lead to be prosperous. This can be seen when the father dies, he tells his son, “…But you’ll be okay. You’re going to be lucky. I know you are…” (McCarthy 279), The father has recognized the boys progress throughout the novel and comments on it a few minutes before his death to give the son the encouragement he needs in order to conquer whatever he has to face in the future. The son is scared but deep down he knows his father is correct and he will be able to survive without him and continue his journey. The Road is a perfect representation of a father-son relationship built on bonds and a series of events that occurred to bring them closer together with the father 's guidance, child abuse