Cormac McCarthy, in his novel The Road, uses the story of the man and the boy to show that people grow the most when they don't have anyone to fall back on. This happened in the end of the book when the man eventually dies unexpectedly (to the boy at least) and the boy, who was always reluctant to take the pistol and let his father leave him, is forced to pick up the pistol and blaze his trail on his own.
Throughout the story, when the man needs to go look for food or go get wood for a fire, he always gave the pistol to the boy and left him at camp. This never went over well with the boy the three or four times it happened in the book, but it happened nonetheless. It happened for the last time in the final pages of the book when the man, knowing it would be his last night, refused to eat and told his son to take the pistol. The boy didn't think he could do it, but when he woke in the morning to find his father's cold body, he sat weeping and then took the pistol and left (McCarthy 278-281). Everything that he doubted he could do, he now had the strength to do once he had to on his own.
McCarthy uses this commentary to demonstrate to the reader that in order for people to grow to their full potential, they need to be left on their own accord. He uses the story of the boy to embody his message that people grow the most when they are without the ones that they love: when they have no one to lean on but themselves.
Throughout the story, when the man needs to go look for food or go get wood for a fire, he always gave the pistol to the boy and left him at camp. This never went over well with the boy the three or four times it happened in the book, but it happened nonetheless. It happened for the last time in the final pages of the book when the man, knowing it would be his last night, refused to eat and told his son to take the pistol. The boy didn't think he could do it, but when he woke in the morning to find his father's cold body, he sat weeping and then took the pistol and left (McCarthy 278-281). Everything that he doubted he could do, he now had the strength to do once he had to on his own.
McCarthy uses this commentary to demonstrate to the reader that in order for people to grow to their full potential, they need to be left on their own accord. He uses the story of the boy to embody his message that people grow the most when they are without the ones that they love: when they have no one to lean on but themselves.