Symbolism And Metaphor In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road

“He climbed the bank through the cane to check the road. Dark and black and trackless where it crossed the open country” (McCarthy 202).

In the book The Road, written by Cormac McCarthy, a boy and his father are struggling to survive in a post-apocalyptic world. The boy and his father haven’t eaten for a while and they had just discussed who got to drink the dirty water they collected from the river bank. The father began to look for the road in order to return to their journey of searching for a survivable environment. When he climbed the bank to check the road. Since the road is suppose to symbolize the boys and his father 's future, the description could symbolize the events they will come across or how they are feeling at the moment. …show more content…
He was burning. He picked him up and carried him to the fire” (McCarthy 247).

During the book “The Road”, by Cormac McCarthy, a father and a boy attempt to survive in a post-apocalyptic world where they search for an environment where they have a possibility to survive. This quote was taken from around the time the boy was beginning to feel ill which had the father worried about his health and his survival. When the father cupped his son 's forehead in his hands, it shows how affectionate he is towards the boy, even when the world they live in is not so lovable. This enforces the reason of their hope and thrive for survival, that the only reason for them to live is each other. The boy was burning with a fever which could mean his death and illness, but then the father took him to the fire, which is equally hot and burning. The difference between the two is that the boys fever represents how the boys life is in danger when the fire represents the hope and life. Therefore, when the father takes the boy near the fire, it represents how much he wants his son to survive even when the possibilities of the boy dying and obvious and highly …show more content…
There was a point in the book when both the boy and the father knew that the father was going to die, this quote describes how the boy feels and that he represents in the world he was born in. He was the light in the darkness with could represent the boys link to religion since he was the only hope or thrive the father had to survive. The fading light could also be the boy when since the boy is the light in this world and he is losing his hope or will to survive with his father dying. When the author wrote “He woke in the darkness, coughing softly” (McCarthy 280). McCarthy could be not only describing the boy in the moment, but him in the dark post-apocalyptic world since he was born in the darkness, was left struggling for a reason to survive for a short period which could represent the coughing softly when he awoke. They boy lay listening to the breathing of the father to assure that his father is still alive. He sat near the fire, which represents the hope, and watched his father while wrapped in the blanket, which could represent him attempting to hold on to something to shield him from the reality of his father dying. This could be since they boy won 't have anything to hold on to in a while since they live for each other. The drip of water the boy is listening to could symbolize the life source in the environment and how there is