The World of the Father in Cormac McCarthy's The Road

The man in the story is responsible not only for the boys life, but for raising him as well. Therefore he creates a world for his son, and by consequence the boy is his entire world. This is referenced specifically in the book, the man and the boy are "each the others world entire."It is, however, hard to argue that he creates a world for himself. Because he is creating the world for his son, he has to stay grounded in the literal world. There are countless moments in the novel where the man knows that they have to take a risk, but the boy is scared. The man has to be in the literal world in order to know when a risk is necessary. Also he has to be attentive to the world around him at all times in order to size up every situation. If he had been lost in an imaginary road when he felt the arrow whiz by his head, he might not have been able to react quickly enough to save his sons life, or have the concentration to locate and shoot the guy with the flare gun. But he does try very hard to create a world that is enjoyable for his son. For instance there are the stops at the waterfall, the coca-cola in the grocery store and the flute that he gives the boy. However, he can not afford to live in this world, as it could have been potentially devistating for them both.