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Maxwell 1

Isaiah Maxwell
Ms. Martin
18 April 2014
The Road Draft
God Works in Mysterious Ways
Have you ever noticed that God works through the most unlikely characters? In the Bible,
Jesus hung out with the outcasts of society. He used those people to do and represent the work of
God. In the book, The Road, Cormac McCarthy uses the boy as a sign of God. The boy is too
young to understand what is really happening in the world. Even with that, he is the character
that possesses the greatest morality. Cormac McCarthy uses the boy to carry out the works of
God and symbolize it in many ways. Cormac McCarthy presents these signs when: The boy is
perceived as the torch of mankind, the boy symbolizes Jesus and may possibly be the
reincarnation or second coming of Jesus and lastly when, the boy is seen as the symbol for the
rebuilding of the world. They say big things come in small packages and what better way for
Cormac McCarthy to present that theory than by using the little boy as a true sign of God.
The first sign of God working through the little boy is presented when the boy is
perceived as the torch or light of mankind. Throughout the book, the man and the boy go on and
on about carrying the fire. What is it, Papa? Nothing. Were okay. Go to sleep. Were going to
be okay arent we Papa? Yes. We are. And nothing bad is going to happen to us. Thats right.
Because were carrying the fire. Yes. Because were carrying the fire. (83) What exactly does
that fire represent and why is that so important? The fire is not a concrete object. The fire is the
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hope that the little boy and his father possess and the morality that they refrain from misplacing.
The fire is in the boy and the fathers fire is his son. The man is similar to whoever may be
chosen to light the torch in the Olympics. Although that is always a special occasion, the torch is
the main attraction because it symbolizes the passing into a new era. The man has lit the torch
and the boy is the torch. The man has lit the torch by teaching him what he needs to do in order
to continue to survive. Another sign is when the boy is seen as the torch of mankind when he is
metaphorically passed on to the new guardian. When he first encounters the man and his new
family he provides some very specific questions to ensure that they are indeed the good guys.
He looked at the boy. Yeah, he said. I'm one of the good guys. Are you carrying the fire? Am I
what? Carrying the fire. You're kind of weirded out, arent you? No. Just a little. Yeah. That's
okay. So are you? What, carrying the fire? Yes. Yeah, we are. Do you have any kids? We do.
And you didnt eat them. No. You dont eat people. No. We dont eat people. And I can go with
you? Yes. You can. Okay then. Okay. (283-284)These questions ensure that the torch, or the
boy, does not fall into the wrong hands. If he were to fall into the wrong hands, the symbol of
hope for humanity would have been lost. He is seen as the light and innocence that mankind used
to possess. There are very few people that possess that innocence and seeing that the boy is one
of those people, which gives him the importance and possibly the link to being the reincarnation
of Jesus.
The second sign that is presented in the book is how the boys characteristics become
dangerously close to Jesus. Cormac McCarthy really puts that in effect in the book. There is an
old Greek story about how the gods used to come back to Earth as homeless, helpless people and
ask the townsmen for shelter. The reason for this is to test man and to see who was courteous to
allow a stranger to live in their home. This is another test God has of man to see which humans
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will keep their moral and help with the rebuilding of Earth. The boy may be the mysterious
Jesus-like character that leads the rebuilding of the world. There is a quote that clearly has a
double meaning to it in the book. The father is once again explaining how they are the good guys
when the son disregards the story because they dont really help people along the road so how
can they be the good guys. Do you want me to tell you a story? No. Why not? The boy looked
at him and looked away. Why not? Those stories are not true. They dont have to be true. They're
stories. Yes. But in the stories we're always helping people and we dont help people. (267-
268)He goes against his fathers authority and expresses what he feels as right. His father blows
up and says that he is the one who has to take care of everything and make the decisions, not the
boy. After this the boy utters something that symbolizes him being the reincarnation of Jesus. He
says I am the one. This is stating that he is the light of the world which is exactly what Jesus is. It
is very ironic how he begins to say he is the one who has to worry about everything. Cormac
McCarthy uses that line as a double meaning to hint at the boy symbolizing Jesus. In the bible,
Jesus is morality and we base all of our morals on Jesus actions. In The Road, the boy has the
most morality even though he has yet to fully understand what is taking place in the world. He
cares for all people, including the bad guys. He's gone, he said. Come on. He's not gone, the boy
said. He looked up. His face streaked with soot. He's not. What do you want to do? Just help
him, Papa. Just help him. The man looked back up the road. He was just hungry, Papa. He's
going to die. He's going to die anyway. He's so scared, Papa. The man squatted and looked at
him. I'm scared, he said. Do you understand? I'm scared. The boy didn't answer. He just sat there
with his head bowed, sobbing. (259) He clearly cares for all people including the ones who hurt
him or intend to do so. It matters not how much you hurt the little boy, he will still forgive those
who steal and even intend to harm him and his father. When he talks to his father he says that the
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thief is doing what he needs to survive. He essentially tells his father the same thing Jesus told
his, Forgive them father for they know not what they do.(Bible, Luke 23:34, KJV)
The boy is the illuminating sign of what is to come. Encountering the light of the world
may be a very illuminating thing to experience. It takes you back to what the world used to be
while at the same time enlightening what is to come in the future. People are shocked to witness
such a young person that is still alive in this world. The most significant sign of this is when the
boy and his father encounter Ely. Ely is very grateful to see youth in this God-forbidden world.
When I saw the boy I thought that I had died. You thought he was an angel? I didnt know what
he was. I never thought to see a child again.(172)The world has become a wasteland. The
description of the return of Jesus states, But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night,
in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent
heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. (Bible, 2 Peter 3:10, KJV)
The earth is already burned up and the seas are blackened with disparity. The return of Jesus
comes by surprise. This apocalypse has also came by surprise. This world possesses the same
physical characteristics and is described very similar to what Peter had described it in the Bible.
He lay listening to the water drip in the woods. Bedrock, this. The cold and the silence. The
ashes of the late world carried on the bleak and temporal winds to and fro in the void. (11)All
people shall have the privilege of seeing his return. Whether they realize it is him is up to the
amount of sin that they confess to the lord. Will the world ever come to repentance so that all of
Gods creatures may ascend like some of the others who have already perished?
God works through all kinds of people. He prefers the most unlikely characters because it
separates the faithful from the faithless. People who have kept their morals have the privilege of
carrying the fire along with the little boy or reincarnation of Jesus. We see God working through
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him when the boy is perceived as the torch of mankind, the boy symbolizes Jesus and may
possibly be the reincarnation of him and lastly when, the boy is seen as the symbol for the
rebuilding of the world. He who testifies to these things says, 'Surely I am coming quickly.'
Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Bible, Revelation 22:20, KJV) This quote explains how
quickly the return of Jesus may be and how difficult it will be for those to recognize him as the
son of God. We never know when Jesus shall return and rapture the faithful because the world
may be closer to this type of world than we think. Be prepared because that day may be sooner
than the world thinks.

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