The Road Through Hell

McCarthy depicts the setting of the road and the different destinations that the man and the boy reach as being hell like. He uses different explanations about hell from the bible to create a realistic setting. One verse that shows this is Mark 9:43, “Hell, where the fire never goes out.” As seen multiple times throughout the book, the setting is constantly filled with smoke, ash, darkness and fire. This fire that is surrounding them is an image of hell and the punishment that God puts on sinners. Another verse that shows the connection between hell and the road is 2 Thessalonians 1:9, “eternal destruction.” The book is filled with examples of their environment being destroyed. Whether it’s when the trees were falling, the ground was trembling, or how death is surrounding them, everything that had been part of their normal life is now wrecked. McCarthy allows the reader to make an assumption that walking on and around the road is similar to how it would be to walk through hell.

The man in the book lacks any type of real faith, despite his occasional “good works” without having a belief behind the action they don’t mean anything. He lies to the boy multiple times as an attempt to console him about their situations. He tells the boy “it’ll be okay,” (pg.25) so many times throughout the novel even though he doesn’t know the truth about the outcome. He wants his son to believe that they can make it out of this even though he himself doesn’t know what to think. He does his best to protect the kid by lying and convincing him that his actions will help them in the long run. When they run into strangers, the man pretends to be compassionate but really is only doing it to provide the boy some satisfaction. After an interaction with an old man, the father says, “You should thank him, you know, the man said. I wouldn’t have given you anything.” (pg. 173) The man knows he wouldn’t go out of his way to help any of the strangers but because of the boy’s compassion he gives them something. The father has good intentions when it comes to his interactions but the way he conveys them is not a point of pride.