McCarthy's The Road: the boys morals and hope

This story follows a boy and his father and there journey through the now demised world around them. The boy was unfortunate to be born into this post-apocalyptic landscape, and the world around him has been completely destroyed and life everywhere has been wiped out. The people around them who are left consist of either cannibals or refugee scavengers. The boy must learn about life, survival, and morals in a world in which life is depleted and the people around him are killing each other or are starving to death. The boys morals are strongly built however and after his mothers death, you can tell that the father has taken a stronger position on raising his son to be morally and ethically strong.  One of the major themes that Cormac McCarthy emphasized on was the importance of parenthood and the roles of parents in their child's life. 

Even though the father and his son were faced with limited food and were threatened by multiple enemies, the boy was able to see the situation for what it was and he cared about others and tried to feed the others. On page 129 the boy exclaimed "we are the good guys right?" The innocence of his youth is surprising to the reader since the situation that they are living through is life or death.  The boy and his father are able to keep faith in there survival and they continue to "carry the fire". I think that the reason the boy is able to keep his faith and stay strong to his morals is because of the love and devotion that his father holds to him.