Sad Life, Happy Death

As the reader continues The Road a change in the father and in the son becomes clear. They both want to stay alive but there is the question of what being alive means. The father follows a survival theory where he will do anything in order to continue his journey. As a father it might seem like the best decision, but the son constantly reminds the reader that maintaining the “fire” is very important. Children are always credited for their ability to stay alive morally and spiritually, in this case the boy was alive in a certain way and the father was alive in another. When the man steals the food from their camp the father does not hesitate to, probably, kill him. His son does not understand why that was necessary.

On his deathbed, the father realizes the importance of staying alive not only physically but also emotionally. It is what happened to his wife. She could live for longer period of time if she were not emotionally destroyed. When the end is near the adult realized that living unhappily is not worth the effort and emphasizes the importance of the heart: “You cant. You have to carry the fire. I don’t know how to. Yes you do. Is it real? The fire? Yes it is. 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, 3474) The happy ending might be proof that the boy’s good actions bring forth more help. Who knows if the father might have helped some of the people they encountered, what they might have received in return.