Well, this whole novel in a sense is a testament to the
love that the father has for his son. Note how the behaviour of the mother is juxtaposed
with the attitude of the father. The mother, losing hope, only ends her own life, and
does not try to ensure a future for her son. The father, by contrast, remains with his
son, even when there appears to be little hope of any future whatsoever, and tries to
prepare him for an uncertain future. That is love and dedication. The father is a
character who is presented as having one goal in his life: to do everything he can to
look after and protect his son and to give him hope in a hopeless world. Even as he is
just about to die, the father shows his love of his son by giving him advice and trying
to encourage him:
You need to go on, he said. I cant go with you.
You need to keep going. You dont know what might be down the road. We were always lucky.
You'll be lucky again. You'll see. Just go. It's all
right.
He makes reference to
the need to "carry the fire" of hope and humanity inside of him as he ventures on alone.
The relationship of the boy and the father represents a relationship of love in a
loveless world, as the only other relationships that we are presented with in the novel
are ones of profound exploitation, as the strong use (and eat) the
weak.
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