As mentioned above, the man believes he is entrusted by God to protect his son. His will to live is derived from his role a father and faith in the future for his son. The man’s changing tradition of faith is foreshadowed in a flashback as his wife discusses her intended suicide. “The one thing I can tell you is that you wont survive for yourself. I know because I would never have come this far. A person who had no one would be well advised to cobble together some passable ghost. Breathe it into being and coax it along with the words of love.” (McCarthy, p. 49) In summation, in order to survive in the harsh post apocalyptic world, you must in the very least have faith in and love for one another. The man encounters and overcomes a multitude of perils in service of his son. Without his son, the man would lose all faith and the will to live.
Whereas the man and boy question their faith in God, both the man’s and boy’s will to live derive from their love of one another. The man’s faith in humanity is maintained through his love for his son. The boy’s faith stems from the fire derived from his father’s love and, unlike his father, the innate faith in the goodness of humanity. It is important to note that every stranger that the two encounter is met with uncommon kindness from the boy. The faith that the boy has in humanity is a beacon of hope in an otherwise hopeless