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The Story Begins
The story begins with a nuclear explosion. It destroyed the world, and created an apocalyptic world as well. This is the setting for the book, and what the father and son have to endure. The story starts NOW! -
The Gas Station
The father and son find a gas station along the way. Somehow the gas station is still standing, and they go in. They can't find anything there besides a mysteriously working phone. The man picks up the phone and called his old house. He did this just hoping someone would answer like old times, but to his dismay, no one answered. -
The Supermarket
Along the road, they find a supermarket. They enter, much to the boy's disapproval, and look around. They find a coke machine in a back corner, and instead of just passing it over, the man looks in it. He ends up finding a Coca-Cola to give to his son. They share the sweet taste of Coca-Cola, which brings the man back to his childhood. "He withdrew his hand slowly and sat looking at a Coca Cola.
What is it, Papa?
It's a treat. For you" (McCarthy 23) -
The Father's House
A couple days after they find the Coke, they come along a house. The boy thinks nothing of it, considering it is just like every other house they have seen. It is different for the father. It is the house where he grew up. "The man stopped. Then he pushed the cart up the drive.
What is this place, Papa?
It's the house where I grew up" (McCarthy 25)
This house means a lot to the father, although it makes him sad when he realizes the house isn't like it used to be. -
The Father Coughing Blood
It is evident that the man has been getting sick. He has had a case of coughing, and it clearly is beginning to get worse when he coughs blood. The man tries to hide the coughing from the boy, but he knows the boy hears him. "Slogging to the edge of the road with his back to the child where 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" (McCarthy 30). -
The Waterfall
The father and son come along a waterfall. The waterfall amazes the boy, as he as never seen anything like it. They swim in the waterfall, even though it is freezing. The boy enjoyed this, considering it was the first time he had done such a thing. "They could smell the water and they could feel the cold coming off of it. A bench of wet river gravel. He stood and watched the boy. Wow, the boy said. He couldnt take his eyes off it" (McCarthy 37). -
Diesel Truck Crew
The father and son were woken by the noise of people marching and a big diesel truck driving along the road. They then come in confrontation with one of the men from the truck. The man threatens to kill the boy, so the father puts a bullet into the man's head. The father and son then run for their lives with the fear of being chased. -
The Mystery House
The father and son found a mystery house along the road. They were starving and needed to go in to try and find food. When they enter the house, they find a hatch in a closet. The man is desperate and goes in to the hatch. The father and son find prisoners of cannibals, then get chased by the cannibals. They run into the woods and hide. The man teaches the boy how to kill himself if he needs to, but it is never needed. They wait out the night, then keep moving the next day. It was a scary sight. -
The Wonderous Bunker
When the father and son are near death, they discover another house. The father is walking back and forth from the barn to the house when he feels an odd step in the ground. He then digs where he stepped, and found the entrance to another bunker. The boy didn't want to enter, but the father knew they had to. They found boxes and boxes of saved food from a past owner. Someone packed their bunker with food, and it now saved the father and son. -
Ely
Walking along the road, the father and son come along an old man. The man calls himself Ely. The son convinces the father to help the man. Ely and the father had some interesting conversations relating to God. Ely is pretty similar to Eli from the Bible, who doubted God as well. "There is no God.
No?
There is no God and we are his prophets" (McCarthy 170).
Ely states that there is no God, although the father does not agree with him. -
The Train
The father and son come along a train on a track. It is a pretty sad moment in the book because the father realizes the train will never run again. The train represents the world, and how it will never be normal again. "That train would sit there slowly decomposing for all eternity and that no train would ever run again.
Can we go, Papa?
Yes. Of course we can" (McCarthy 181). -
Being Followed
The father and son get the sense that they are being followed, so they stake out and look to see who is following. The man sees three men and a pregnant woman walk by, but they stay quiet and allow the group to walk past them. The father and son then follow the group of people, and find a disturbing sight. The group of travelers killed, then burned a baby trying to eat it for food. The boy was extremely scarred from this sight, and he cried for hours. -
Yet Another Mystery House
The father and son are starving at this point. They are just looking for something to eat. The son has a very keen eye, and when on a hill sees a house in the horizon. They go to the house, and find that it has yet to be touched. They stay at this house for a while to regain energy. Also, they find some canned food that they cook the potential poison out of, then they eat it. It is a nice way to bath, regain energy, and sleep. -
The Boy Goes Swimming
When the father and son reach the coast, the boy wants to go swimming. The father lets him, so the boy runs and jumps into the water. When the boy comes out he is crying. The boy is crying because it didn't reach his expectations of blue water and warm air. "By the time he came out he was blue with cold and his teeth were chattering. He walked down to meet him and wrapped him shuddering in the blanket and held him until he stopped gasping. But when he looked the boy was crying" (McCarthy 218). -
The Boat
The father and son find a boat when walking on the beach. The father decides it is worth a trip to see what is inside, so he wades out onto the boat and discovers many helpful tools. He studied every last inch of the boat to find something that can help them. They got many clothes, weapons, tarps, blankets, and even a little bit of food from the boat. -
Cart Gets Stolen
The father and son are walking back from one last trip to the boat when the father notices their cart is gone. They run back to their camp to find everything has been stolen. They find a track left by the thief, and they follow it. They eventually get back their belongings from the thief. "The thief looked at the child and what he saw was very sobering to him. He laid the knife on top of the blankets and backed away and stood.
Back. More.
He stepped back again" (McCarthy 256). -
The Father's End
The father's coughing and potential lung cancer has finally brought him to an end. The father dies next to a fire with the boy by his side. The father apologizes to his son about leaving him, and the boy just lays with the dead body for days. "You said you wouldnt ever leave me.
I know. I'm sorry. You have my whole heart. You always did. You're the best guy. You always were. If I'm not her you can still talk to me. You can talk to me and I'll talk to you. You'll see" (McCarthy 279). -
The Son Meets the Stranger
The son was lost after his father died. He didn't know what his next plan of action was, so he just stayed with his father's dead body. The boy was approached by a stranger. It seems as though this stranger had been following the father and son for this moment, because he knew the father was going to die soon. "Someone was coming. He started to turn and go back into the woods but he didnt. He just stood in the road and waited, the pistol in his hand" (McCarthy 281). -
The Boy Leaves His Father
The boy made the decision to go with the stranger, and hopefully start a new life. The new life seemed hopeful for him. A good family, some new friends, and more life ahead. This is the end of the story. "He waited in the road and when the man came out of the woods he was carrying the suitcase and he had the blankets over his shoulder. He sorted through them and handed one to the boy. Here, he said. Wrap this around you. You're cold" (McCarthy 285).
