The Road by Cormac McCarthy
❄️ My Favorite Quotes
“Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden.”
“He knew only that his child was his warrant. He said: If he is not the word of God than God never spoke.”
“Listen to me, he said, when your dreams are of some world that never was or some world that never will be, and you're happy again, then you'll have given up. Do you understand? And you can't give up, I won't let you.”
“Borrowed time and borrowed world and borrowed eyes with which to sorrow it.”
👨🏻⚕️ Characters
A nameless father and son travel along “the road” through a post-apocalyptic United States. These two are referred to the man and the boy throughout the book. The cause of the catastrophe is never specified, though the ash-covered landscape suggests a nuclear conflict. The man clings to life for the sake of his boy; even in such a ruined world, he feels it is his duty to keep them both alive and to teach his son how to remain good. A man of faith, he wants to pass on the word of God before he inevitably leaves this world.
The boy is kind and gentle, though timid. He rarely asserts himself and always listens to his father. Throughout the story, he constantly seeks his father’s approval before doing anything. This dynamic stems from his lack of confidence, he has grown up in a world so dangerous that even a small mistake could mean death.
👀 Take-aways
⚙️ The Word of God
Initially, the boy had both his parents, they had survived whatever caused the apocalypse. They tried to endure the new world together as a family. But over time, the boy’s mother lost her sense of purpose and strength. She gradually sank deeper into nihilism until she completely gave up, staying only because the man kept holding on to hope and urging her to continue. Eventually, she could no longer bear it and told the man that leaving this world was their greatest duty, that the best thing they could do for themselves and the boy was to escape this accursed existence. In her view, it was impossible to remain decent people, let alone good parents, in such a world. The man disagreed. He continued to cling to hope, believing she might change her mind—but she did not. One night, she left and ended her life, leaving the man alone to care for their son. And so, the man and the boy began their journey south along the road, searching for other “good people.” The journey took a heavy toll on him. As a religious man, he reminded himself of the duty bestowed upon him by God. The boy became his only reason to survive; he could not allow himself to give in as his wife had. In the boy, he saw proof that hope must endure. To him, the boy was the word of God.
🥩 The Worst of human
At one point in the story, the starving man and boy come across a house and decide to go inside, hoping to find something to eat. But what they discover there is horrific. The man already understands that some people in this new world will do anything to survive, even resort to cannibalism—but the boy does not yet grasp this darkness. While searching for food, they end up in the basement and find a group of emaciated humans imprisoned, along with a corpse missing a leg which was cut clean off. Realizing the horror before them, the man grabs the boy and flees the house, hiding from the cannibals who nearly catch them. The encounter deeply affects the boy, who cries for days afterward. He keeps begging his father to promise that they will never eat other people, that they will remain the “good guys.” The man reassures him that they will never cross that line, that they will starve to death before they resort to eating other people.
🔥 Carrying the Fire
Throughout the story, there is a recurring theme of carrying the fire within ourselves, no matter the circumstances we face. These conversations between the man and the boy often occur in moments of teaching. Notwithstanding their circumstance, the man continues to fulfill his role as a father, and a father must teach his son. Telling the boy to carry the fire is his way of urging him not to let nihilism take root in his mind, as it did in his mother’s. It’s a lesson in holding on to the goodness in his heart. In addition to being his teacher, the man is also his protector, and he sometimes acts in ways that contradict this ideal. Survival often forces him to withhold kindness or treat others they encounter on the road cruelly. The boy, in contrast, is curious and empathetic; he wants to understand people, and longs to find other people who may join them on this journey south. The boy does more for the man than the man does for the boy. He embodies innocence, curiosity, and compassion, all the virtues the man can no longer afford. The boy carries the fire in his own way. He worries that his father’s relentless struggle for survival may extinguish the very fire they are meant to protect. It is the boy’s presence and his goodness that keeps the man from descending into the same madness that has consumed so many others in this bleak world. The man eventually passes from the injuries he sustained during their journey. Guided by his kind heart, the boy finds another family, good people who also carry the fire, and he goes on to live the rest of his life with them.
