Ralph Mccarthy And His Father's Death

“What would you do if I died? If you died I would want to die too” (p. 11).

I love the way McCarthy shows the Man’s paternal love towards the Boy through a hypothetical question because it shows the strength of parental love. The Man is willing to commit suicide, if the Boy dies, to be with him. This is an example of foreshadowing because not only does this predict someone’s death, it also subtly predicts the fact that the Man will repeatedly question his ability to relieve the Boy from the violence of the world by killing him. This also shows a huge contrast between the Man and his wife. The Man sees the Boy has his reason for living while his wife sees him as someone she’s obligated to protect.

“You have some, Papa. I want you to drink it. You have some” (p. 23).

It’s a rare occurrence nowadays for a child to share his delicacies with his parent. This role reversal is similar to when the Boy takes care of the Man at the end of the story. When the Man is almost dying, the Boy finds wood to keep the fire going and makes sure that he is warm. This shows the Boy’s incredible maturity at such a young age.

“He raised up and stood with weeping eyes. On the gray snow a fine mist of blood” (p. 30).

I think that the father is sick and his health is going to slowly deteriorate as the story progresses. I wonder what is going to happen to the Boy if the Man dies. I began to think of many movie scenes where a character finds out about his/her deadly fate. For example, in the movie “The Last Song,” which was based on a Nicholas Sparks’ novel, the father finds out that he has cancer and keeps it a secret from his two kids so he could spend one last summer with them.

“What is wrong with the man? He’s been struck by lightning. Can’t we help him? Papa?” (p.