As I began reading The Road a part of the father’s personality caught my attention: the importance of his son. Having seen other post-apocalyptic works like Akira and Neon Genesis Evangelion, a dichotomy of ideals of parenthood appeared that proved too great to ignore. In this novel we see a father who apparently cares deeply for his son and willingly sacrifices pleasures like a coca- cola (apparently very scarce here) that might give us, at first glance, the impression of a loving father. In contrast we see in those two films in general, adults who either do not care for children or that are too immature themselves to care for them. In any case, these adult characters demonstrate very little parenthood skills due to their lack of hope in the future. Why does such a great difference appear? Is this simply something cultural? Or can this whole act be just a way for him to maintain sanity after losing it all?
In The Road the moment that shows this dependence in the man for the child is here:
“Can I ask you something? He said.
Yes. Of course you can.
What would you do if I died?
If you died I would want to die too. So you could be with me?
Yes. So I could be with you.
Okay.” (p.11)
Under different circumstances such a statement would show a father’s love for his son. In this case though, I do not clearly understand what moves this character to have such a deep attachment for his son. After (apparently) losing it all and having to fight very hard for survival why carry this child and give him so much? Even a parents’ love has limits for we can only tolerate losing a certain amount of those essential things for our psychological wellbeing. Family, friends, national pride and material acquisitions exemplify some of these things that help us continue. I imagine after losing one, people depend more on the others but even so, loosing too many too quickly can shatter a person’s will to live. Maybe his son was important enough for him that he could accept all other losses and move on with him. Still, considering the accommodated life most people in the United States have such losses would have very probably defeated an average person. The cover of the book portrays this idea of defeat. The man looks forward but with hopelessness and exhaustion.
In the relationship between him and his son, this means that maybe he only seeks a reason to continue living in him but that does not mean the strength of such attachment will remain constant throughout the novel. Because the environment around them is so hostile, and any sings of people mean danger to them, they are forced to bond between each other. If this condition doesn’t remain, the father’s love for his son can easily disappear. Encountering a community of refugees or simply a friendly person can suffice in order to break that apparently strong bond.
I compare this untried adult-child parental relationship to the tried ones that appear in those two Japanese films because of their contexts’ similarity. The one difference is that both films are placed several years after and apocalyptic event and society has reconstructed itself to some point. Still, the adults that have seen such an event prove egotistical and do not care for the children’s future. These two reflect part Japanese society after World War II. For them, the two atomic bombs and the fall of their government, which had taken a very important role in the society during that period, meant the fall of those essential pillars that keep us willing to live. In the films, the result was a society that “broken” adults had built and that because of this reflected their morals and ideology. This relates to the road because the moment those adults that rebuilt their societies began losing themselves was a time similar to where the father and his child walk right now. When they slowly give up and loose hope.
Due to this I question the relationship we are given in the beginning of the road. The man no longer envisions a future with his son but dreams of a past with his love that vanished forever. This attempt of his to run away from reality in his dreams signalizes that he might do the same when he recieves an opportunity in real life. If the opportunity to attain that dream appears will he willingly sacrifice his relationship with his son in order to attain it?
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