Relationship+of+Father+and+Son+2

A Relationship of Father and Son

"You Wanted to know what the bad guys looked like. Now you know. It may happen again. My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God. I will kill anyone who touches you. Do you understand?"

"We're going to be okay, aren't we Papa? Yes. We are. And nothing bad is going to happen to us. That's right. Because we're carrying the fire. Yes. Because we're carrying the fire."

"He held the boy close to him. So thin. My heart, he said. My heart. But he knew that if he were a good father still it might well be as she had said. That the boy was all that stood between him and death."

"What is it? Nothing I had a bad dream. What did you dream about? Nothing. Are you okay? No. He put his arms around him and held him. It's okay he said. I was crying. But you didn't wake up. I'm sorry. I was just so tired. I meant in the dream." 

Discuss This:

If you were the father and were about to die could you pull the trigger and kill your son to keep him from being cannabalized or die of starvation?

Do you think that if the father had listened to the son's wishes to help other travelers, join communes, or stay away from certain houses, that they would have made it farther together?

The father son relationship is constant throughout the book. They are the two main characters and interact all creating a very complex relationship. The father is a true father figure in the novel. He looks out for the boys best interests many times putting his own hunger and health to the wayside. His only concerns are the food and water the boy needs and making sure that no harm will come to him. Being survivors with no civilization to turn too they truly only have each other to rely on. Even though the father is older and wiser he still turns to the boy, many times interacting with him as almost an equal. The fathers age and worrisome nature comes between them in many situations throughout the book but emotionally he leans on the boy for strength to persevere. Without the boy the father never would have made this journey at all, it was all for him. The quotes we chose try and represent the protective nature of the father when traveling with his son and also the emotional joy that they get because of only having each other to lean on. Without one at any point in the book the other would fail to survive. Even in the end. If the son had not found a “good guy” he most likely would have killed himself just so that he could remain with his care-taker. Their relationship transcends physical companionship even after his death the father loves his son and the boy never feels alone.  Out music video uses explicit lyrics to evaluate the journey on the road and the relationship of the father and son. Its entertaining and relevant to the times so that every boy and every girl may enjoy and understand the road as we do.