“Where is it? I don’t know where it is. Yes you do. It’s inside you. It was always there. I can see it” (McCarthy 279). In his final moments, the father, encourages his son to search for the goodness within him. In The Road, the father does everything he can to teach his son how to pursue the goodness in the world. By using an abundant amount of tokens throughout the novel such as, the fire, bunker, coca-cola can, and the boy, McCarthy indicates how to keep pushing through the post apocalyptic world the boy and his father live in. The term, “carrying the fire” depicts righteousness in a human being. The boy and his father carry that righteousness within them. Others act out in a infernal manner by pursuing actions that are inhumane. They
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Using a shovel, the father digs to get to the door. He opens the door, climbs down a ladder and once inside, he is completely bewildered. The boy climbs down the ladder and all they see are “crate upon crate of canned goods. Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. Canned hams. Corned beef. Hundreds of gallons of water in ten gallon plastic jerry jugs” (McCarthy 138). Truly, this bunker symbolizes something even greater than hope. The finding of this bunker proves to the boy and his father, that there is a reason to live in their charred …show more content…
According to Erik Hage, the boy has many “messianic qualities,” but one of them is “his overwhelming sense of compassion for all he encounters...he is a pure boy and a blank slate. Born after the devastation, he has no sense of pop culture and structures that preceded this life” (143). Although the boy has only seen a world full of destruction, anguish, and despair, he does not know what is was like to live in a world without destruction. He does not know what it is like live in a world full of blooming flowers, animals, and rivers that flow. Because he does not have this knowledge, this could be another reason as to why the father and his son should live--there could be something out there waiting for the boy, something that he has yet to experience. It is quite possible that the boy yearns for something more than what he has--due to the fact that he hasn’t experienced much in his world. His compassion for all that he encounters, leads to him wanting to do everything good in the world that he possibly can. This is proven when the boy wants to help Ely, “an old man, small and bent” (McCarthy 161). The boy’s father is weary about this man but with the boy’s selfless ability, they are forced to comply to the boy’s idea of “maybe we could give him something to eat” (McCarthy 163). Ely--which isn’t even his real name--is a complete stranger and the boy and his father have no idea if this man is a “good guy.” The boys unrelenting character
Using a shovel, the father digs to get to the door. He opens the door, climbs down a ladder and once inside, he is completely bewildered. The boy climbs down the ladder and all they see are “crate upon crate of canned goods. Tomatoes, peaches, beans, apricots. Canned hams. Corned beef. Hundreds of gallons of water in ten gallon plastic jerry jugs” (McCarthy 138). Truly, this bunker symbolizes something even greater than hope. The finding of this bunker proves to the boy and his father, that there is a reason to live in their charred …show more content…
According to Erik Hage, the boy has many “messianic qualities,” but one of them is “his overwhelming sense of compassion for all he encounters...he is a pure boy and a blank slate. Born after the devastation, he has no sense of pop culture and structures that preceded this life” (143). Although the boy has only seen a world full of destruction, anguish, and despair, he does not know what is was like to live in a world without destruction. He does not know what it is like live in a world full of blooming flowers, animals, and rivers that flow. Because he does not have this knowledge, this could be another reason as to why the father and his son should live--there could be something out there waiting for the boy, something that he has yet to experience. It is quite possible that the boy yearns for something more than what he has--due to the fact that he hasn’t experienced much in his world. His compassion for all that he encounters, leads to him wanting to do everything good in the world that he possibly can. This is proven when the boy wants to help Ely, “an old man, small and bent” (McCarthy 161). The boy’s father is weary about this man but with the boy’s selfless ability, they are forced to comply to the boy’s idea of “maybe we could give him something to eat” (McCarthy 163). Ely--which isn’t even his real name--is a complete stranger and the boy and his father have no idea if this man is a “good guy.” The boys unrelenting character