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Apocalypse Occurs
Sometime in the past, around 8 years before the start of the novel, an apopalytic event occured. Could've been a solar flare, volcanoes, or maybe a nuclear holocaust. -
The Boy is Born
Since the boy is the key barrier standing between the man and "paradise" ... he is the main problem in the story. -
Mother Leaves / Dies
Since the mother left and killed herself, the father is left alone to raise the boy in the post-apocalyptic landscape. -
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Flashbacks to a Time Long Lost
The father has reacurring dreams and flashbacks about his former wife. She left them soon after the son's birth. -
The Journey Begins
Some years after the apocalypse, the man and the boy set out for the South on the road. -
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The Ill-Stricken Father
During their journey, the father's physical health is deteriorating. He begins to cough up blood. "... he stood bent with his hands on his knees, coughing. He raised up and stood with weeping eyes. On the gray snow, a fine mist of blood." (MacCarthy 30). Since the man was a doctor before the apocalypse struck, he knows he doesn't have long. -
Hallowed Pasts
The man and the boy come accross a gas station and a super market from the old world. In the gas staion, the father finds an old phone and tries to ring up his old home, but no one answers. In the super market, as they are scavenging, the man finds an old can of Coca-Cola. He lets the boy try it, to give him a taste of the old world. -
Home Is Where the Heart Is
As the journey continues south, towards the coast, the duo stumbles upon a dilapidated, old home. The father says they should check it out, but the boy is cautious. As they move through the home, it is revealed that this was the man's childhood home. -
The Waterfall
To get a little reprieve during their gloomy trip to the coast, the father and son swam in a waterfall they came across. Since it is the first time the child had done anything like this, he found much joy in the cold, freezing water. -
Struck by a Bolt
While the two are still traveling, they come across a man struck by lightning. The sons pleads with the father to assist the broken man, but he doesn't want to. The man says that they can barely feed themselves, so how can they feed another? -
Tango Down
After the encounter with the militaristic convoy, the man and boy hide, but stumble upon a man from the group and the father is forced to take his life to save the child. -
Cannibals
On the brink of starvation, the man and the boy are forced to enter an unknown hous`e. The wander around and find a cellar hatch. Barging their way in, they stumble into the darkness to find chained up humans. Prisoners, barely alive and being held like livestock for food. The house belonged to cannibals. The duo flee while being hunted by the tribe and are forced to stay the night in the woods. The man preparred his son to take his own life. -
The Bunker
The father and the son travel through another town. However, they find something truly special. A fallout shelter. An un-opened bunker full of food. The two spend days inside the shelter, recovering and filling their stomachs. -
Meeting Ely
As they are moving along the road, the man and boy come across an old wanderer name Ely. He speaks against th existence of a god andis baffled by how the boy could be alive. -
The Beach
Finally, after months of travel, thy reach the coast. However, it isn't all happy-happy, joy-joy. The ocean is now vey dark, almost black from all the soot and ash. As they make camp, the father spies a shipwrecked boat a couple hundred yards off the shore. -
The Boat
The father decides to swim out to the boat. Inside, he finds tools, food, and water. He spends the next day or so farrying suppiles to and from the boat. After a few trips, they return to their camp to find the cart stolen, and hunt down the theif. The fathr forces the man to strip of his clothes. The boy strongly disagrees with this but the father does not change his mind. -
The Final Weeks
The father and the son traverse into a coastal town. As they mose through the towm, the father is shot with a crossbow and injured. They spend some days in recluse to heal. They set out again and the the man's cough worsens. He realizes he is about to die He has his son sit him down on a tree trunk to the side of the road. He gives the boy his pistol and tells him he must survive. They spend his last few moments together. -
A New Beginning
The son sets out on the road by himself. Within moments, he is found by another traveler. The stranger states he is a "good guy" and that he and his wife were following them, knowing the father was dying. The son joins up with them and starts up a new journey.
