Father And Son In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road

“Beauty and seduction, I believe, is nature's tool for survival, because we will protect what we fall in love with.” - Louie Schwartzberg. In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, love between a father and son plays a key role in their survival. The father does everything in his power to make sure the son is safe and healthy, even if it means risking his own safety. This idea is greatly exemplified throughout the entire book, when the boy and father enter abandon homes in search of resources. Food and shelter quickly become the most important resources for the father and son, which encourages them to continue searching through abandoned buildings.. Each house represents something different in the story, and plays a key role in how the boy and father survive on their journey on the road. One of the first houses the pair enters during their journey is the father's childhood home. To the father, seeing his home brings back memories of what his life was like as a boy. This scene makes the father feel upset, as he knows his child will never get to experience a normal childhood like he did. The father reminisces on what life was like before the disaster. “On cold winter nights when the electricity was out in a storm we would sit at the fire here, me and my

While searching for food, the pair entered the basement of an old house. “Huddled against the back wall were naked people, male and female, all trying to hide, shielding their faces with their hands. On the mattress lay a man with his legs gone to the hip and the stumps of them blackened and burnt.” (McCarthy 110) The father shoved the boy up the stairs, ensuring his son was safe before protecting himself. At this moment in the plot, both boy and father believed they were going to die. Even though the father was scared himself, he always insured his son’s well being was