We're Carrying the Fire

On page 83 of The Road, the Man tells the Boy that they will not die “because we’re carrying the fire”. This could be an allusion to Greek myth of Prometheus; in the legend, Prometheus steals the fire from Olympus and takes it down to the mortals living on earth. Until then, the humans had been suffering from the cold and hunger. The gods didn’t want the earthlings to have the fire because they saw it as a symbol of their godly power. However, Prometheus stole it and gave it to them in order to end their misery.

The fire is symbolic of hope in the book and the myth. In their opinion, The Man and Boy carry the fire; therefore, they are giving hope to the rest of the world. The symbolism of the fire is that as long as one ember is kept alight, it will be able to create a larger fire. The Man tells the Boy that they will not die as long as they still have hope. Along with this and the constant reassurance by the Man that they are the “good guys”, he is able to keep the Boy’s morale up.