Main Summary
Spoilers Included
The Road takes place after an apocalyptic event that sends the earth into a wasted state. There is little to nothing left of the world that had existed before the apocalypse; no crops, animals, civilizations etc. There is only a small population of humans that remain. They are mostly cannibalistic with very few exceptions, two of them being the main characters of this book: a man and his son. The father tells his son that they "[...]carry the fire"( McCarthy 83), a motto that signifies that they amongst the few who will never sacrifice who they are and what they stand for in order to survive (this model of never sacrificing who you are no matter the circumstances is one of the many messages McCarthy conveys throughout the story). It is a story full of hidden messages combined with a touching story of a father and his soon.
The story begins with the man and his son beginning to head south in hopes to avoid another fatal winter in the north. This is the only destination ever set by the man and his son throughout the book. The entire storyline documents their trip down south, mentioning a few stops they make on the way. Towards the beginning of the book, they meet a group of travelers heading in the opposite direction of them. One of the travelers stumbles upon the man and his boy in the woods, and the traveler attempts to take the child from his father; he is most likely to eat him. The father shoots him with one of the three rounds he has in a revolver attained prior to the apocalypse. This event scars the boy, and it is here we see the innocence of him begin to fade. Throughout the rest of the book, the man and the boy continue to travel. They almost starve to death multiple times and come across several acounts of cannibalism. All of this continues to shatter the boy's innocence.
Eventually the two make it south and find the Atlantic Ocean. It is here where they get all of the supplies they have gather throughout the journey stolen. They retrieve their goods from the lone thief, but at the cost of the thief's life. We are not told whether or not the thief actually dies, but we do know that the father took all of the thief's clothing and every one of the thief's possessions in a sort of revenge for the stealing of their goods. This act of revenge committed by the father severely hurts the boy. The boy knows that when his father took all of the thief's clothing, the thief would most likely die. This event scars the boy even further. He now considers his father to be a murderer and this confirms the boy's suspicion about his father's decreasing sympathy. Shortly after this, the father is shot with an arrow. This creates a fatal wound in his leg that, combined with his already worsening condition, kills him. He dies slowly, fading in and out of conciousness, all while reassuring his son that " You have to carry the fire" (McCarthy 278). After his father dies, the boy stays with his dead father for another three days until he comes out of the cave.
The story begins with the man and his son beginning to head south in hopes to avoid another fatal winter in the north. This is the only destination ever set by the man and his son throughout the book. The entire storyline documents their trip down south, mentioning a few stops they make on the way. Towards the beginning of the book, they meet a group of travelers heading in the opposite direction of them. One of the travelers stumbles upon the man and his boy in the woods, and the traveler attempts to take the child from his father; he is most likely to eat him. The father shoots him with one of the three rounds he has in a revolver attained prior to the apocalypse. This event scars the boy, and it is here we see the innocence of him begin to fade. Throughout the rest of the book, the man and the boy continue to travel. They almost starve to death multiple times and come across several acounts of cannibalism. All of this continues to shatter the boy's innocence.
Eventually the two make it south and find the Atlantic Ocean. It is here where they get all of the supplies they have gather throughout the journey stolen. They retrieve their goods from the lone thief, but at the cost of the thief's life. We are not told whether or not the thief actually dies, but we do know that the father took all of the thief's clothing and every one of the thief's possessions in a sort of revenge for the stealing of their goods. This act of revenge committed by the father severely hurts the boy. The boy knows that when his father took all of the thief's clothing, the thief would most likely die. This event scars the boy even further. He now considers his father to be a murderer and this confirms the boy's suspicion about his father's decreasing sympathy. Shortly after this, the father is shot with an arrow. This creates a fatal wound in his leg that, combined with his already worsening condition, kills him. He dies slowly, fading in and out of conciousness, all while reassuring his son that " You have to carry the fire" (McCarthy 278). After his father dies, the boy stays with his dead father for another three days until he comes out of the cave.
When the boy does come out, a man approaches him, the boy thinks about going back to the woods but never does. Instead he meets the man and tells him his condition. The man reveals that he has been following him and his father for awhile now, this leads to ask if they are "[...] one of the good guys" and "Are you carrying the fire"(McCarthy 283). The man responds to the boy by saying that he will have to trust him and that they are carrying the fire. The boy also inquires about whether or not there is a little boy in the man's family. The man says yes and there is a little girl about his age too. The book ends with the boy talking to a woman, presumably the mother of the man's family, about God and talking to his father through God. Finally, the book ends with a story, that claims the story of the world will continue, humanity is just a shallow layer that could not change the course of the earth.
