Humanity In "The Road" By Cormac McCarthy

The humanity envisioned in Cormac McCarthy’s post-apocalyptic novel is one of humane contrasts. From strength borne of weakness to weakness borne of strength. I believe that this juxtaposition of strength and weakness is interchangeable depending on our humanitarian perspective. It is arguable that the father’s love for his son gives him a reason to keep going, but on the other hand, his altruism will weaken him physically. There is also the question of whether the father’s humanity acts upon his son, and subsequently their survival.

The father’s role in “carrying the fire”, is undeniably self-destructive. The search for “Godly men” is detrimental to his survival. Ironically, his son is more capable and fitter for survival than himself despite the thought he is given. The father’s presence negatively impacts the son on many levels. For instance, the son reacts to his father’s fears of his own past.

"Just remember the things you put into your head are there forever he said... You forget what you want to remember and you remember what you want to forget" (Page 8)

The chains that weigh on the father’s soul  shackle the son. Also, despite coughing up blood the father thinks about how thin his own son is getting. Later on in the novel we learn that despite the father’s attempts to conceal the cough, his son hears them every time. Which prompts me to ask whether the son’s continuous questions regarding death are not, at least, derived from his own father’s ill-health. Furthermore, the father’s mission, highlighted by the conversation where his wife told him that the only thing that stands between him and death is his son, prevents the son from finding a haven. Sadly, this proves true in the end of the novel when as the father dies, the son finds other survivors with whom to stay.

It seems to me that the father’s humanity aggravates the plot rather than provides warmth and shelter. That the bleached descriptions and perennial darkness stem from the recesses of his own mind as well as the tragedy of a post-apocalyptic world. There are many episodes that have helped tip the balance in my mind.

When father and son are camping in the woods and the son is held at knife point, they were merely looking for someone to help their injured friend. And while we can understand the father’s action in shooting the “aggressor”, there is the hint that joining these people could have proved beneficial in the long run had the father himself chosen to help (beyond the immediate and obvious danger in shooting a man who holds his son with a knife to his throat).  The  father’s perceived role as a torchbearer for humanity is ironically contrasted by his actions. Both in terms of his relation to his son, and his distrust of other people.

But the father’s role as a protector does come into play later in the novel. During their trek through the incessant barrage of the elements, the father’s physical strength serves as a crutch for the boy who frequently falls and is weakened. This strength carries them both through the snow and leads them to the storehouse, where they are finally relieved of their starvation and find a rare moment of warmth and shelter.

 It is interesting to note that the father feeds off his son’s weakness, and gains strength. The weaker he becomes the stronger his resolve. Conversely the stronger the son becomes, the weaker his father becomes. They act as a single unit, despite their differences. During the course of the novel, we understand that the boy is struggling with his father’s over protectiveness. And many times the boy seems a lot older than the father seems to wish to treat him. Similar to the way they feed off each other, the boy’s growing-up and increasing maturity seem to equate to the father’s increasing vulnerability.  I find that in a sense, it is impossible to speak of their humanity as individuals. They act as a single unit. Where the father lacks compassion, the boy protests. Where the boy lacks strength, the father acts. Together, they survive.