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The Boy is Born
The boy is born shortly after the apocalypse. The mother cries from knowing she brought a life into this hopeless, dreadful world. She has no hope and wishes they all would die. However, the boy being born gives the father the hope that they can live and make it through this devasting time. -
The Man's Cough
While they are traveling through the cold months, the man develops a terrible cough. He bends over and coughs, then sees blood sprayed on the snow. This event shows that he is becoming weak, and foreshadows that he will die, possibly soon. -
The Can of Coca Cola
While looking through a grocery store, the man comes across a pop machine with one Coca Cola in it. He gives it to the boy to drink. The man is trying to give the boy a glimpse of the old world and some pleasantness in the dreary, dark world they live in now. -
The Waterfall
The man and boy come across a river and waterfall in their traveling. It gives them a source of water for drinking, a way to clean themselves up, and a sense of hope. It is a rare place, and in their dreary hard travels, it is fun and exciting to be able to be in such a place. It renews their hope and gives them a break from their devastating life. -
The Truck of Dead Bodies
The man and boy come across a truck of dead bodies. It is significant because it is the first glimpse of other people that lived after the end of the world. Even though they were dead, it gives them a glimpse of life. -
Man Struck By Lightening
The first instance that the boy and man encounter an alive human, is a man that had been struck by lightning. As the boy and the father passed, the man who had been struck by lightening looked down as if he did something wrong. He was silent and bent over himself in the road. When the father tells the boy they are not going to help the man because they cannot trust anyone, the boy begins to cry. This is the first situation in which we see the boy's compassion and understanding towards others. -
Man with the Truck
A truck of "bad guys" are passing on the road when their truck breaks down. The boy and father hide in the woods, but one man comes into the woods and spots them. The father has the gun pointed at the man, yet the man grabs the boy and the father shoots the man, killing him. This event shows the depth of the love the man has for the boy. He will go to any length, even killing someone, to keep the boy safe. -
Cannibalism at the Grand House
The boy and father are starving. When they come across a house with no tracks surrounding it, the father is eager to enter. They find a hatch in the floor of a pantry with a padlock on it, which the man breaks. The terrified boy is pleading the father to leave, but the father persists. In the basement they find naked people, some with legs and arms gone and their wounds cauterized. The sight of cannibalism is very real and shows the defining factor of what makes the boy and father "good guys". -
Apples and Water
The man leaves the boy sleeping in the woods, and travels to a house and barn nearby. They are starving and on the verge of death. He steps on an apple, hard and shriveled. He finds many more apples, too many to carry. In a concrete tank inside the house, he finds pure fresh water. They ate all the apples and drank tons of water. Finding the apples and water gave them hope. It renewed the hope they originally had and gave them motivation and strength to keep moving on. -
Finding the Bunker
Again, the boy and father are starving, but the father comes across a bunker. The boy is beyond terrified, remembering the last basement they been in, but he complies with his father. Underground, they find crates and crates of canned food, hundreds of gallons of water, blankets, and more. They live there for a few days, feasting and resting, nursing back their strength. This helps them restore a new hope. The new hope reminds them they have to keep carrying the fire, even when times get tough. -
Ely
The boy and man come across an old man named Ely. He is very emaciated, dirty, and blind. The boy begs his father to help him, and they give him food and let him stay with them that night. This event is the first time the man allows any compassion towards other human beings besides the boy. It shows the boy's generosity and kindness that he has towards people, even when Ely is not that grateful. -
The Boy's Dream
One day the father woke up and saw the boy sitting up wrapped in blankets. The boy told his father he had a bad dream, but was hesitant to tell his father what it was about. Finally he admitted in the dream he was crying and his father did not wake up. This is significant because it foreshadows the father's death and the boy is starting to realize his father will not be there for him forever. -
The Beach
The man and boy finally reach the beach. However, the water is not blue and there are no other people there. The boy wants to go for a swim and when he comes out of the water he is crying. He is crying because for the first time in the story, he has a small loss of hope. The beach was supposed to be a safe sanctuary for the boy and would finally make his life better. When the beach did not live up to his expectations, he lost some hope that they would have a better life. -
The Cart Thief
While on the beach, the boy and man go back to where they left their cart and blankets and find it gone. The father immediately panics and they find the thief down the road. He is livid at the thief and makes the thief give him everything he has, including his clothes and shoes. The boy knows this is wrong because they are doing exactly what the thief did to them. It is important because it shows that many people would go to any lengths to survive, even stealing from others. -
The Father's Death
The boy and man set up camp beside the road for the last time. The father states this is where he will die. He tells the boy he must keep going and he will be lucky. He tells him he must keep carrying the fire and not take any chances. The father's death had been predicted for a long time, but when he dies it becomes more real that the boy must learn to survive on his own. The father's death represents that the boy must carry the fire and keep the goodness alive in the world. -
The Good Guys
Three days after the father's death, the boy walks out to the road and sees someone coming. It ends up being a man who offers the boy to come with him and his family. The boy is hesitant, knowing what his father would do. The man tells the boy they are good guys too and have a little boy and girl with them. The boy decides to trust the man and finally travels with the good guys. This event shows how different the boy was from the father and how he had trust and love toward all people.
