Hope In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road

In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the father’s optimism is retained by his son’s endurance as the boy symbolizes hope. The appalling circumstances of the world results in the characters’ pessimism where they experience feelings of doubt during their journey. However, the father’s reassurance inspires his son to sustain the voyage, accordingly motivating the man’s own persistence. As he confirms his son’s survival day after day, the man’s faith in hope is fortified, inspiring him to continue their expedition. Generally, in the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the boy symbolizes hope as he is perceived as a God, and serves as a barrier between his father and death, motivating the ongoing journey.
Within the novel, the father perceives his son as a superior figure …show more content…
During a time where the struggle to survive is a violent battle, the young boy’s compassion and concern for others is uncommon, portraying the child as an inhuman figure. The boy’s striking qualities cause the father to believe that the child is a God, giving the man hope in the barbaric world. In addition, the boy separates the man from death as he is his father’s reason to survive and resist giving up. The man continues to rise every morning as his only hope in the world lies beside him, breathing. Moreover, the father relies on the confirmation of his son’s life to ensure hope still exists every morning. The boy’s existence is the reason for the man’s ongoing struggle, as he strives to conquer their goal to the day he dies on route. Without his son, the father would be hopeless with no intentions of surviving, falling in love with death, just as his wife did (McCarthy 57). Throughout his continuous battle on Earth, the man holds on to hope, wrapped in a blanket, thin and pale, motivating him to persist the journey until he can no longer travel the dark