Theme Of Hope In The Road

Having hope in difficult situations Having hope in difficult situations is definitely a very big theme in The Road. Everyday there awaits something new and dangerous for the man and the boy while traveling on the road. McCarthy shows us how much they need to survive with having to find food even when areas seem to be left barren. The man and the boy may not realize it but if still existing in this world they still have some hope that they may survive and find a better life somehow. They encounter many dangerous things some from mother nature and other people who are still existing as well. The boy experiences a horrible situation where a stranger almost kills him, but the man saves him, but the boy becomes less of himself. In return, the man decides to give him a gift “He’d carved the boy a flute from a piece of roadside cane and he took it from his coat and gave it to him. The boy took it wordlessly. After a while he fell back and after a while the man could hear him playing.” (McCarthy 77) To me music always uplifts me even in the worse situations so I feel as if the man gave this to him to feel some hope in the world even with
Nothing. We’re okay. Go to sleep.
We’re going to be okay, arent we Papa?
Yes. We are.
And nothing bad is going to happen to us.
That’s right.
Because we’re carrying the fire.
Yes. Because we’re carrying the fire.” (McCarthy 83) to anyone else this seems small, but the phrase carrying the fire hits me because not even in post-apocalyptic world the man will not let the boy lose hope even if the chances seem slim. They know that it’s possible they’ll die the next, but the man never wants him to lose the urge to live and to have hope. I think that’s why McCarthy is a great writer because I don’t see how someone could have written such a love between a parent and child with a love that’s