In The Road, the earth is covered with ash, fires burn on the ridges; a human being smolders; the father explains that he’s been struck by lightning. What does the fire represent?
Here are some ideas:
In Greek legend, Prometheus was part man, part immortal. Zeus assigned him to create man, shaping him from clay and water. But Prometheus became a little too fond of his creation. He’s largely known for giving man the sacred gift of fire, stolen from the gods. Zeus didn’t like this idea much.
In another story, when he and Zeus were developing the ceremonies for sacrificing animals as tribute to the gods, Prometheus again sided with his creation, man. He divided the slaughtered animal parts into two packets. In one was the ox-meat and innards wrapped up in the stomach lining. In the other packet were the ox-bones wrapped up in its own rich fat. One would go to the gods and the other to the humans making the sacrifice. Prometheus presented Zeus with a choice between the two, and Zeus took the deceptively richer appearing: the fat-encased, but inedible bones. That’s why, throughout The Odyssey, Odysseus and his men make sacrifice to the gods whenever they land safely on an island, slaughtering a cow or an ox, wrapping the thigh bones in fat and burning them, while roasting and eating the rest themselves.
Zeus reacted to this trick by presenting man with a “gift,” Pandora—the first woman. She came from the forge of Haephestus, beautiful as a goddess. As a wedding gift for Pandora and Prometheus’ brother, Zeus gave a box that they were told never to open. Naturally, Pandora opened the box, and out flew all the troubles of the world that continue to plague mankind today.
Later, Zeus ordered Prometheus to be chained to a rock on Mount Caucasus, where an eagle flew down and ate his liver, which constantly regenerated itself (remember, he’s an immortal). His punishment was endless, until eventually, Prometheus was rescued by Hercules.
So—make the connection to the novel:
After they leave the house where the people are locked in the basement, waiting to be eaten, the boy asks, “We wouldn’t ever eat anybody, would we? No. Of course not. Even if we were starving?... But we wouldn’t. No. We wouldn’t. No matter what. No. No matter what. Because we’re the good guys. Yes. And we’re carrying the fire. And we’re carrying the fire. Yes. Okay” (129).
At the end of the story, just before he dies, the man talks to the boy. The boy says, “I want to be with you. You cant. Please. You cant. You have to carry the fire. I don’t know how to. Yest you do. Is it real? The fire? Yes it is. Where is it? I don’t know where it is. Yes you do. It’s inside you. It was always there. I can see it… (279).
Later, as the man is dying: “The boy sat by the fire wrapped in a blanket watching him. Drip of water. A fading light. Old dreams encroached upon the waking world. The dripping was in the cave. The light was a candle which the boy bore in a rigstick of beaten copper. The wax spattered on the stones. Tracks of unknown creatures in the mortified loess. In that cold corridor they had reached the point of no return which was measured from the first solely by the light they carried with them” (280).
Finally, when the boy meets the man who takes him in, he asks, “How do I know you’re one of the good guys?” You don’t. You’ll have to take a shot. Are you carrying the fire? Am I what? Carrying the fire. You’re kind of weirded out, aren’t you? No. Just a little. Yeah. That’s okay. So are you? What carrying the fire? Yes. Yeah. We are” (285).
Write a paragraph with a substantive TOPIC SENTENCE to answer the following two questions. Be sure to refer to the myth of Prometheus in your response.
· What do you think McCarthy expects the reader to think as the boy equates being “the good guys” with “carrying the fire”?
· What are some of the contradictions to this idea? Does McCarthy resolve them?