Themes:
Paternal love, or the father and son relationship
The theme of the father-son relationship guides The Road. In the post-apocalyptic setting, attention to this relationship is very pronounced. For the father, the son is his reason for continuing on amongst the devastation left behind by a global disaster. At times, he wants to give up, but it is the boy, his responsibility for him and his love for him, that moves him to persevere. It’s also the father’s role as the boy’s protector as well as mentor that at times assures their survival through the most dire of circumstances.
As other humans around them have fallen prey to their animal instincts, it’s the boy and his innocence that refreshes the father’s faith in humanity when he seems to be losing all hope in any kind of future. What’s notable about this relationship is its strength and importance even in a world where a future is gravely in doubt. By the end of the novel, the father has shown himself to be a positive role model despite his flaws and the boy steps into his shoes when the father dies, continuing on the legacy his father has left for him. He and the father were “carrying the fire” together and now the son will continue to carry the fire and pass it along.
Good versus evil
In a post-apocalyptic setting, the distinction between good and evil usually becomes quite clear, and it does so in The Road. The boy frequently asks his father if they’re the good guys, and his father assures him that they are. The “bad guys” are the humans who have fallen to their most basic animal instincts and have lost all knowledge of what being civilized means. These are the people who have become barbaric, imprisoning and eating other humans, with no concern as to the pain and suffering they’re causing them.
The line between good and evil does become somewhat blurred for the boy when the father uses violence , displays meanness to others, or simply shows a lack of concern for others. The boy becomes visibly upset in these situations and eventually will ask his father if they’re still the good guys. The father has to explain his behavior, but the boy isn’t convinced. In this way, the child represents goodness and innocence. The barbaric humans represent how evil can reign in some. The father represents the struggle between remaining civilized amidst an environment where survival is of the utmost importance (good) and giving in to rage that leads to violence and the barbarism that surrounds them (evil).
Man versus nature
Although it seems in The Road that nature has had its say, the father and son persevere in this shock of charred and cold wilderness through conditions that at times don’t seem possible to survive. Yet this father-son pair continues to do so. The father finally does concede to nature’s pull but only after reaching his destination with his son. The paternal love for his son drives him to complete his journey and when he comes to the end of his life, he tells the boy to continue to talk to him, acknowledging a spirit of humanness that can go up against the ravages of nature.
However, it is unclear as to the cause of the global disaster, which most likely has been caused by man’s greed and the barbarism that lurks underneath every supposedly civilized state. Thus The Road is a constant struggle of man versus nature, from where the story begins to where it ends. At the end, there is another beginning, and the struggle will continue.
Honesty, deception, and trust
As the father and son take this journey on the road, a struggle between honesty and deception ensues. The boy often asks his father to explain certain circumstances that have occurred, and it’s apparent the boy is beginning to understand when the father is not telling him the entire truth. As a result, the father recognizes that the boy doesn’t always believe him.
On the road, and in this setting, the paranoia the father exhibits is understandable yet he has developed a mistrust of everything and everyone while the boy continues to believe in goodness. The father has become jaded by all that has occurred, and through his experiences of great loss.
The boy, on the other hand, hasn’t had the same experiences and demands honesty from the father because he wants to trust him. He hasn’t lost faith in the importance of trust. The end result is that the father doesn’t become completely hardened by all that has occurred because of the boy’s need to believe in him. And, the boy learns to be more skeptical of everything around him due to the father’s acceptance of what it takes to survive in this new world.
Symbols:
The road
The road symbolizes the journey the father and his son are taking to get to a destination where they have a chance at survival. All the obstacles and incidences that occur on this journey require action on the part of the man and the boy that lead to their growth as human beings.
The fire
The fire symbolizes life, and the continuance of life. At every stop, the man tries to make a fire. Most of the time, he succeeds while other times he does not. When he can’t make a fire, this is when he worries most that they will not survive. Also, the boy frequently wants the father to reiterate to him that they are the “good guys” and they are carrying the fire. It can be assumed that the father has told him this since they’ve started out on the road, as long as the boy’s been alive. That he and the boy are carrying the fire symbolizes that they carry the continuation of life on the planet.
The Coca-Cola
The Coca-Cola symbolizes the conveniences of the past, and that old life, which have been destroyed. Possibly, those conveniences are what caused the current plight of the world. The boy is allowed a taste of that life due to the father’s find in the soda machine. They also later have more Cokes when they find the bunker stock full of remnants from the old way of life.
The infant
The infant that was killed at the moment of its birth to be eaten by those who brought it into the world symbolizes the complete breakdown of civilization. Humanity has been lost in this moment, and the future of the world is entirely grim.