Neil Bowen on (Edited )
The Man
From the very beginning of the novel, the man’s devotion to the boy is made apparent: “When he woke in the woods in the dark and the cold of the night he’d reach out to touch the child sleeping beside him.” (p1) Moreover, the man recognises that “the child was his warrant.” (p3) The aforementioned point is enforced by the man’s decisions which are always done out of consideration for the boy.
Under the bleak environmental conditions, the parent-child relationship flourishes. The man’s love takes on a heroic quality as no other character in the book demonstrates compassion to such an extent. Despite his love for the boy, the man remains brave and skilled throughout - for example, when he stitches up his own wound, carves imitation bullets and shoots a road-rat in the forehead. Certainly, through the man’s actions, McCarthy creates a degree of ambiguity which makes the reader question whether his actions (such as leaving a naked thief in the road and setting a road rat on fire with a flare gun) should be praised or condemned due to their likeness to unethical actions carried out by other characters.
His flashbacks are arguably a form of retreat. As a reader, one must question how far the man has been corrupted by previous experiences (i.e. the apocalypse and his wife’s suicide). It certainly appears that he’s been moved by prior events which is testimony to his hardened nature.
Timeline of Father’s activities:
P1-9: Man awakens after dreaming his son was dragged into a cave housing a beast. The man begins to pack possessions into a grocery cart. At a gas station, the man attempts to dial father. Looks through binoculars - wasteland. Man leaves lamp on until boy’s asleep, as requested.
P10-19: Man has flashback to Uncle’s farm and lake which was “the perfect day of his childhood.” Man wakes up to the sound of distant thunder. Next night, the man has another dream of his marriage which picks up as a daydream while on the road.
P20-28: Man gives boy Coca Cola. Man takes boy to house where he grew up. Man explains there was an earthquake to the boy. Reads a newspaper.
P29-53: Man breaks promise by giving boy all the cocoa, rather than halving it with himself. Man jumps into waterfall, helps boy in. Pulls morels from the ground, puts them in boy’s hood. Man stares at river. Refuses to help man struck by lightning.
P54-81: Dreams of gods slouching across the wasteland. Flashback to wife questioning him as to why he’s filling the bathtub. Pictures a deck of cards from childhood. Man tells boy he must not wish he was dead and with his mother. Another flashback to wife who argues with the man about suicide - she runs off and commits suicide (selfishly?). Wakes boy upon hearing diesel vehicle and spotting biohazard-suited roadrats. Man questions roadrat before shooting him in the forehead to protect the boy. Man leaves boy alone with the gun. Man carves the boy a flute.
P82-110: Man promises not to kill dog. Reprimands boy for risking his life by chasing after another child. Father wakes son as trees begin to fall down. Man witnesses two men passing at pace.
P111-139: Man locates longhandled spade in the toolshed, uses it to break padlock hinge. In the night, he heard “hideous shrieks” from the cannibal house, covers boy’s ears. Man explores barn while the boy sleeps. Man reassures boy they would never resort to cannibalism. Man raises pistol after witnessing their reflection, almost firing.
140-88: Man finds gasoline, feels faint and considers how long until death. Replaces dropped lighter with makeshift lamp. Descends into recently discovered bunker, prepares pears for dinner. Finds ammunition, but no gun. Retrieves mattress from house, covers bunker entrance. Cuts boy’s hair, his own and then shaves. Having left the bunker, the man decides to follow an old man, Ely - cautious he may be a decoy. Invites old man to share dinner.
189-228: Places boy in the engineer seat of a locomotive. Man tells boy he’s sick. Dreams of a library, flicks through a book in a quaint environment. Man sees three men and a pregnant woman pass near bridge. Finds Spanish coin in a field. In a house, the man cuts their hair again, has another shave and kits them out in new attire.
229-307: Allows boy to swim in the sea. Flashback to him and wife resting under stars on the beach. Spots a sailboat. Hands boy the pistol, swims to boat and browses state cabins. Shoulder now blue and discoloured from forcing the hatch door ajar. Finds pistol in the sand after boy loses it. Man coughs, tastes blood. Returns to sailboat, obtains a first-aid kit and flaregun before swimming ashore. Man allows boy to shoot flare as a “celebration.” Man also shoots a flare into night sky. Washes boy’s clothes in the surf. Gives boy aspirin. Returning to supplies, man spots sandy bootprints. Man forces thief to strip naked at gunpoint, leave him on the road. Man is shot with an arrow in the leg, shoots flare at man with bow. Comes across man and woman in house. The man cleans and stitches his wound. The man refuses to split a tin of peaches, asks the boy to have it all. Man tells boy to go on without him. He’s left behind in cave, covered in leaves, before passing away