What happens when a journey becomes ones life (The Road)

 Cormac McCarthy's The Road follows a boy and a man, father and son, through the post apocalyptic world of a fallen America. The journey along the road that the duo must take is not one of joy or determination, it is one of sheer survival. The journey they take, one of grief and remembrance for the man as he treks along a world he once knew, now forever demolished and covered in ash. While for the boy, it is one of exploration and curiosity. Of course the boy knows the gravitas of the situation he and his father are in, he knows the dangers that face him and he knows that everyday may be his last. However, unlike his father, he was born into the end of the world and thus does not know what life was like before the fall. So as he takes his journey through the ash filled desolace of a charred world, he is filled with scenes of new worlds, new things, echoes of a world he never knew.

    Although the two are taking the same journey, what they get out of it is entirely different. The man can only find a will to survive through his son, who he reveres as almost a god like figure. He loves his son dearly, yet is fully prepared to kill him at any moment. This is a symptom of the cruelty of the world the man has been forced to witness. He beheld the death of his wife, of his life, and of himself, he knows of the cruelty that surrounds him and he knows that their are terrible people in this new world who would stop at nothing to ruin what is left of the mans life. The boy knows no better, the boy was born into the heathenry of this world. He remains able to see the good, the light in this world of fire and death. This is why the man regales the boy as a god of this godless world. 

    Although the journey is one of necessity, one that must be taken in order to survive, it is still a journey. It is a Camino in its own sense, a religious awakening for the man, and for the boy. After all, if a world has become godless then the only god left is the next generation, they are the fire that will lead the world into light. It may be to late for the generation that new what once was, but it is no longer their time. The man excepts this truth at the end of his journey, he realizes that he has no part in this new world and allows himself to die. But he only does this once he has delivered the boy into the arms of someone who can help guide him, for the boys journey is not yet over. The boys journey has only just begun.

    This book shows that life is a journey, and it is important to know when ones journey is over, and when it is time to pass the journey onto the next generation. For you can only travel so far, so leaving room for others to carry in your footsteps is the most courageous thing that can be done. Knowing when it is your time and when to stand down, and knowing when you are needed, this is the overarching goal the man comes to realize as his journey ends. The boy now free to soar and become the light of the new world, as that is what his journey entails.