Somehow my first time through The Road I didn't pay much attention to this business of keeping the fire going. I think I was reading more for the adventure, but today I started thinking about this and just thought that I would throw out an idea: what if we view the fire symbolism from a more literal angle?
A flame is something that requires constant attention, constant stoking to keep it alive. So what does this do for the man? Sure we could see it as a symbol for hope, but maybe it just gives him something to do. Retirees often take up detailed hobbies to fill their post-career lives, hobbies that often grow to consume much of their time and energies. To some outsiders, these hobbies may seem meager, petty, pedestrian. Now we all do this to some extent or another, even us younger folk. I bet some of us in this class were at least partly motivated to go to college because we were drifting a bit after high school and, hey, this gave us something to do. And there isn't a darn thing wrong with this. If I wanted to be really bleak and existential about this, I could argue that all life is about is trying to find things to keep ourselves occupied, to keep us from noticing that hollow-eyed reaper whose sneaked up behind us and is about to whack us over the head with that hefty champagne bottle labeled EXIT STRATEGY. But I won't. But you probably get the point.
I'm sure the man loves his son. Of course he does. But I think that a large part of his obsession with the boy and his well-being is that it give him something to do. To care about. A purpose. Remember, this is a man who has watched his whole world die, seen his spouse give up utterly and surrender to suicide, and is carrying around a gun loaded with two bullets just for his boy and himself. This idea of giving-up can never be too far away from him. Trust me on this. When you're dealing with this kind of stuff, just having something to get out of bed for, little objectives and routines (like catching last night's Daily Show online or dodging the next pack of hungry cannibals) go a long way.
On a somewhat related topic, about religion again. I can't shake this impression that the man has the faith, but is a bit uneducated when it comes to the details. It's like he remembers the broader themes and impressions of religiosity but not the lessons or the morals. His approach is somewhat akin to a pagan discovering pages from a religious text, getting the pages out of order, and missing the overall context of the works. I really think he went to church regularly as a child (he may have been forced) but all that is left is the moods, the colors of the rituals, but precious little of the content. He invokes symbols (fire, ash personified as the Eucharist, angels, etc.) like crude mantras, techniques to center himself, to comfort, to try and inject meaning where perhaps none exists. If you're a child attending church regularly, what sticks out are the rituals. When you're young, it takes repetition to drive things home; that's what works. Kneel. Stand. Recite. Pray. Kick the pew in front of you and contemplate the topography of the finely-crafted crucifix decorating the back of the sanctuary while your parents go and receive communion. These can all seem boring when you're young. But rituals can provide conform later in times of need. The can help with centering. Rituals equal rhythm, rhythms help us divide measures into beats, separate time into quantifiable units and goals. They may also just give us something to do.
This is certainly an interesting take with the fire and religion. I had never thought about that, that the fire and taking care of the boy gives him something to do. You are right that the boy gives him purpose, but there has to be more to it because I do not think that only something to do would be a strong enough motive to keep both of them going in this terrible world where they are starving to death and constantly fighting for their lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree that something is up with the man's religion. Your explanation sounds very plausible and would explain his references to religious things. He may use this as a one norm for his chaotic life.