Road on Fire

As soon as the father arrives to what used to be his house, curiosity and melancholy take over him, making him enter the destroyed residence in despite of his child's fear and insecurity. As they walk around the house, the man evokes memories from his childhood, which make him ponder about the causes of that cruel and irreversible future. McCarthy exhibits how the man feels impotent and clueless about humanity's destiny:

What had they done?
He thought that in the history of the world it might even be that there was more
punishment than crime but he took small comfort from it." (33)

The journey continues on, and as the winter gets heavier and colder, the man and his son make an extra effort to arrive to a place known as "the gap". While pushing the cart, which has become a harder task since its wheels are buried under the snow, they arrive to a waterfall where they decide to rest. The place is meticulously described by McCarthy, which gives the reader a clear image of the beauty of the site. The characters decide to take a refreshing bath in the calmed part of the waterfall, were the man's care and pride for his son becomes evident.

The father decides to leave the place the next morning because he's afraid someone else might be there. They go under the bridge that crosses the river and, on the other side, they find an abandoned trailer where they decide to spend the night in. As the man decides to light a small fire inside the truck, he discovers dead bodies piled up in the rear part of it. The fire is a symbol used by McCarthy to display clarity and life because as soon as the fire was light, the man realized that they were surrounded by dead and that they were lucky to remain alive:

Human bodies. Sprawled in
every attitude. Dried and shrunken in their rotted clothes. The small wad of burning
paper drew down to a wisp of flame and then died out leaving a faint pattern for just
a moment in the incandescence like the shape of a flower, a molten rose. Then all
was dark again." (47)

Another human being appears in the road (for the first time in the story), and the boy has mixed feelings of fear and desire to help. The man is visibly hurt and crumbled since he doesn't notice the presence of the main characters behind him. The man decides to follow him with due precautions because he doesn't trust anyone but himself and his son. The man hobbled along the road until he sat down and never stood up again. The son started crying for he was afraid and concerned about this man's health. The father explained him that the man was hit by lighting and, even though they felt the urge of helping him, there was nothing that could be done. This attitude shows how tragedy has dehumanized the man, but the son is still innocent and pure, which makes him vulnerable to inevitable things like death.