Cormac McCarthy's, The Road, reveals the adventures of a father and his son as they travel through perilous times and wander through a catastrophe stricken Earth. As the Earth is already bare and almost lifeless, the father is hindered by his ever so strong desire to make sure that his son does not experience the pain and abandoning that he has experienced. "(Man) I wouldn't leave you. (Woman) I don't care it's meaningless. You can think of me as a faithless slut if you like. I've taken a new lover. He can give me what you cannot. (Man) Death is not a lover. (Woman) Oh yes he is. (Man) Please dont do this." (pg. 56-57) His wife has taken her own life rather than fighting to survive. In the times that they are experiencing, one cannot survive on an individual perspective. That is why the bond between the father and son is so strong, they are dependent on each other for most qualities of life that is needed to survive. "(Son) What would you do if I died? (Father) If you died I would want to die too. (Son) So you could be with me? (Father) Yes so I could be with you." (pg. 11) The father's love and need for his son to live pushed him past the limits of his body, he survived everything with his son and they went through everything with each other, and led to his father's demise. "(Father) You have to carry the fire. Where is it? I dont know where it is..It's inside of you..Just take me with you. Please. I can't. I can't hold my son dead in my arms." (pg. 279)The fire was the light of his father that lives on though his son; the desire to live and survive through hard times.