Part One of The Road by Cormac McCarthy

The first part covers the first 30 pages of the novel

A Parallel:
As this is the start of the novel, McCarthy is most likely trying to establish certain symbols and implicit ideas through his language and story telling. Obviously there is the ash and grey and dark that are constantly repeated throughout the first section. But, the one that stood out to me, as it was not mentioned as many times, was the strong connection between the man and the boy. There are two specific passages where the man thinks or the narrator explains his commitment to him: "They set out along the blacktop... each the others world entire" (6) and "The boy was all that stood between him and death" (29).

A Contrast:
The novel suggests a negative connotation for darkness or blackness at multiple points throughout the novel ("The blackness he woke to on those nights was sightless and impenetrable" (15), "The nameless dark come to enshround him" (9)) but there is one moment where that is challenged: "This was not a safe place. They could be seen from the road now it was day" (5). In that context, darkness is saftey, and safety is definatly something that they are trying to achieve.

Two Questions:
Was this disaster so bad that it ruined the land for farming, it seems unwise to not settle down.
This is out there but does it ever explicitly say that the boy is the mans son? Are they for sure blood related?