Sacrifice In Cormac Mccarthy's The Road

When a child is born in a post-apocalyptic world, what is one to do? Leave the baby behind, kill it, raise it as well as one possibly can under the arduous circumstances? In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, two parents are faced with the birth of their son, and how to keep him alive for as long as they can. Family, starvation, illness, and death all play a role in the parents’ ultimate sacrifice to ensure their son’s ability to survive in the post-apocalyptic world around them.

During the hard times of the apocalypse, the family from The Road completely fell apart. One of the sacrifices the parents make for their son is their family. Between the hazardous conditions of the now post-apocalyptic world, as well as the birth of their son, the family’s unraveling was inevitable. In order to provide efficient care for the boy, they had to let one another

go. If they would have stayed together, it would have slowed them down. It was hard enough to keep his son going without having to keep his wife going throughout the journey as well.
The woman makes the decision to sacrifice her son to her husband, as well as her husband to her son. She did this by walking out on them. It seems quite harsh of a mother and a wife to do; however, it was what she deemed necessary for her son’s survival. She exclaims to her husband, in one of his dreams, “he ripped his heart of me the day he was born,” referring to her son (McCarthy, 57). Her heart being ripped out of her is a representation of her pessimistic view of the future she envisioned for the boy. She also sacrificed her husband to her son when she left him to care for the boy. She knew that he was the only person strong enough to get the boy through the demanding times, for she knew she couldn’t protect him because even she, herself, sought a way out of the world.
The man regretfully had to sacrifice his wife at the expense of being able to give the boy the best chance of life he could. His regret in letting her go is shown through his dreams. He has dreams that he tried to help her; however, that wasn’t the case. His mind was trying to rewrite his wrong by helping her in his subconscious. Despite all of his mourning, he needed to let her go for the boy. If he didn’t, there’s a chance that they wouldn’t have made in nearly as far as they did for several different reasons. These reasons include, but aren’t limited to: her mental illness, she could have become physically ill, so they would have needed to stop to care for her, and lastly, food would have been any even bigger issue.
Furthermore, considering food is increasingly scarce, feeding the man’s self is strenuous enough without having to feed his son also. Nevertheless, the man is sure to feed both himself and his son. In order to do this, he sacrifices a majority of his food and drink to the boy. This upsets the boy on numerous occasions, one being when the man gave him all of the Coca Cola and only taking one small sip. At one point he tells his father “If you break big promises you’ll break big ones too,” (McCarthy, 34). He then complies with the boy’s wishes to eat and drink also; however, if he had it his way, he would give the boy all the food and drink he had without hesitation.
Consequently, since the man wasn’t able to provide his and his son’s bodies with nutrition and warmth during the harsh winter season, their odds of becoming ill were inexorable. Due to the fact that the family didn’t deign cannibalism and had shelter only for a day or two at a time, they were extremely malnourished. Conversely, though these things would be more apparent to make one physically ill, it can also make one mentally ill. Unfortunately, both parents were victims of both types of illness. While each person experienced different illnesses spawning from varied things, they were both terminally ill.
The woman suffered a mental illness most closely related to a deep-set depression. Throughout her short time in the novel, she was in constant chagrin over her thoughts of her and her son being defiled and then eaten by the cannibals. In turn, she grew tired of her never ending distress and sought a way out of her misfortune. She was also ill in the consideration of recently giving birth in her bed. Although her husband seemed to know what he was doing, there are still far more risks involved with delivering a baby at home versus in a hospital. This possibly played a role in her depression, perhaps postpartum depression. In the novel, it is apparent she loves her son; however, when she is mentioned, she is never holding or being around her son. It’s as if she had no desire to have essentially anything to do with him, nor anyone else, after his birth. She even tells her husband that she would rather killed their son rather than to let him live (McCarthy, 57). According to MayoClinic.org, those affected by postpartum my often experience symptoms such as: difficulty bonding with their baby, withdrawing from family and friends, thoughts of harming one’s self or their baby, as well as recurrent thoughts of death or suicide.
The man is battling illness ass well. Though more physically than mentally ill, he is still in a very critical state. Throughout the novel, he coughs up blood quite a bit and becomes increasingly fatigued. This could be caused by a number of diseases. McCarthy never reveals exactly what the man’s illness is, so there’s no way to know, for sure, what it is. Nevertheless, he had the continuous will to save his son (Collado-Rodriguez, 45). He’s also an obvious victim of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Going through the apocalypse alone is enough to cause one to have PTSD. Between going through the apocalypse, delivering his son, and losing his wife in such an insufficient amount of time there’s no way he doesn’t have PTSD.
In being both mentally and physically ailing, the man began to truly envy the dead and lose hope (William, paragraph 5). Unlike his wife; however, he deemed it necessary to push through all his inner and outer demons to ensure the boy’s survival. Although his illnesses were becoming more and more overwhelming, he forced himself and his son forward to the very “edge of death” (William, paragraph 4). He did this by forcing himself and his son to keep going no matter the circumstances. Whether they were sick, tired, or hungry, the man wanted them to keep going because he believed that staying in one area for too long was unsafe. He thought that if they found shelter and let their guard down for more than a few days, other people would find them and kill them.
The limitations of sacrifice for this family fell into the extreme category. In this particular case, their final sacrifice is the ultimate sacrifice. Although knowing the expense of their son’s survival was their lives, they sacrificed them anyway. The woman’s death had to do with more than just dying for her son, but it was still, in part, a gesture made for him. The man, despite all odds, kept going until his last night. Although the man pushed himself farther than his wife was willing to, she was still a beloved wife and mother.
The woman, prior to her death, had been dwelling on several things that led her to the decision to take her own life. She thought about all of the horrifying things that could happen to her, as well as her family if they were to stay in the world much longer. In her mind, she knew that they would go through starvation, cannibalistic attacks, and either witnessing death or becoming the dead. She didn’t want any part of what the world had become, so after thinking about whether or not to take her son with her, she brought her time on Earth to an abrupt end.
The man fought until the very end to get his son to the south for the winter. He successfully completed his mission, but the south wasn’t what he had envisioned it being. It was just as cold and gray as Tennessee, where their quest had began. Upon arriving at the beach, the man knew his life was coming to a cessation. He didn’t tell the boy until the day he realized he wouldn’t make it through the night. He was definite about his death on this day, so he told his son.
The boy was very adamant on his father being wrong and refused to keep going without him, showing the bona fide love he had for his father. The man knew that he was the only thing the boy had left, but urged him to keep “carrying the fire” (McCarthy, 278-279). He died that night, and when the boy woke up and realized he was gone, he was extremely upset and was at a loss as of what to do next. He put the tarp they’d used for shelter over the man so he wouldn’t just be lying out in the open and waited for, perhaps, his very own death now that he had no one to guide him.
After the man’s death, it seems as though the boy won’t make it much longer.

Luckily, the boy is spotted by a family who cajoled him into coming with them by telling him they’re also the good guys. The boy decided to go with the family in order to continue to “carry the fire” for his parents. This shows that the boy possibly inherited the man’s will to survive (Collado-Rodriguez, paragraph 10). Considering the new family have a deference for the boy’s feelings about his loss, the let him talk to his father instead of pray. This makes the boy feel a bit more comfortable with them, and leads the reader to wonder how far they will be able to go.

The man kept the boy alive through the cannibalism, fire, and ice in the world, but now the boy’s survival depends on the new family (William, paragraph 6). Due to the fact that they have their own children to worry about, it is hard to tell if they’ll be willing to sacrifice as much for him as they will their own kids. However, McCarthy finished the book on a very optimistic look for the boy. It seems as if he’s going to be able to live on and possibly rebuild the new

world.
In conclusion, in order for survival, sacrifices must be made. The two parents from Cormac McCarthy’s novel, The Road, had to make drastic sacrifices to ensure their son’s survival. Those sacrifices included their family, food, health, and lives. In the end, they paid off and the boy was able to continue the journey for his parents. Through the boy’s dedication to his father, he is able to keep his head up and bare through his pain and trauma to finish the quest he began with his father since he was born. This, although McCarthy never tells the reader what becomes of the boy, leaves the audience with optimistic thoughts of the boy being the last bit of light in the world, and hopefully being able to rebuild the world one step at a time.