The Road by Cormac McCarthy is different. It’s not a fairy tale in which there is a hint of conflict and then something amazing happens and everyone lives happily ever after. Instead, it is a morbidly depressing book about an apocalyptic time period with a father and his son trying to survive by finding food while simultaneously fending off ravaging cannibals. This novel, in all of its unpleasantness, possesses a beauty I’ve never before seen or read. Of course in contradicting my own perceptions, there must be an accompanying contradiction in the book.
The book, from beginning to the end, changes little and yet so much. The setting remains ever so stark but it seems to evolve with the characters in very subtle ways. The landscape is bland and desolate, yet the road changes direction and surrounding trees and foliage appear and reappear. The father and son go through very trying times and also have very relaxing, delicate moments. Although the book is very dark in nature, there is one very important and hopeful subject: fire.
In the novel, the father tells his son numerous times that they are carrying the “fire”. It is true that the father seems to carry flammable materials with him, as well as lights and lanterns, but the “fire” doesn’t seem to be a purely literal matter. In fact, he explains later that the “fire” is something that they hold on the inside. Also, the father explains that because they carry the “fire”, the “fire” gives them validity and that they are the good guys. With that explanation it seems to be that the “fire” could be a symbol or representation of their morality as human beings. Others that wander turn on each other for food or shelter, whereas the father and son seem to be the only ones with any sort of moral direction by caring and looking out for each other. Their obvious exhibition of love is caused by the fire in their hearts, where the cannibals seem to have gone dim and cold. The “fire” is mentioned again nearing the end of the book where the father is slipping away and he urges his son to carry the fire.
In this second mentioning of the fire, it brings upon a different representation for fire as a symbol. In this case it seems that fire is the symbol for the continuity of mankind. When the father urges his son to carry the fire as he feels himself getting sicker and sicker it is with a firm urgency and a little bit of desperation. Also, being that man invented fire, wanting the fire to survive could also correspond to the urging of the survival of mankind as well. In the end, the boy carries the fire as both a badge of decency as well as a sign that mankind will live on.
