Character Study

          It took about a two hours for me to gather my thoughts on this particular post, which, if you know me at all, is incredibly rare. Usually if I'm given about five minutes, I have formulated a game plan for how I want to present the information, and a rough outline of the information I think it particularly pertinent. That being said, I make no guarantees that this post genuinely captures everything that needs to be said, or even all that I want to say about it. It's also not a good sign that I give a disclaimer, in light of the too-high standards I set for myself and the arrogance with which I approach writing.
          THAT being said, I think of these two character as archetypal representations. In dreams and in songs have I heard this book, which says to me that these two characters are actually everywhere in life now. With that, I am reminded of my brother's favorite hobby: Tarot Readings. I've learned that each card represents an archetype, which by Dictionary.com's definition is, "a collectively inherited unconscious idea, pattern of thought, image, etc., universally present in individual psyches". I''m sure you're familiar with the concept. 
          In any event, I see these two as present in all things. They are more ideas than they are people, to me. Enforcing this notion is the fact that the characters are never described in greater detail than their dirtiness and the man's unshaven face. They are never given names, nor ages.
The Man:
          Hopefully, I didn't get your hopes up by referencing the tarot, because I honestly know very little else about it. I can't cite a specific archetype the man represents to me, but rather a collection. Then man is knightly, in my eyes. He's a representative of justice in a corrupt world, but also of judgement itself in that he is forced to make decisions that directly effect the entirety of his view. He is the scale on which things are weighed and measured, but also the purveyor of justice once weight has been determined. Not terribly democratic, if you ask me.
          Otherwise, he is also a protector of his child. This is mostly why he reminds me of knighthood. He does the dirty-work, so to speak. When anyone threatens their livelihood, the man instantly steps in and does not hesitate to use force. He stops at nothing to protect his child. There's even a scene near the end of the book, where he gets shot in the leg with an arrow, proceeds to throw himself on the child to protect him, and then fires into the general direction of the arrow's owner. He doesn't stop there, though. He covers the child in protective blankets, and then rushes the archer's perch (arrow still in tact), with the intent to kill. He has, at this point, completely lost all "Blood Innocence", if you believe in such a thing. But he's also strong enough of a force to protect something he believes in, but does not have. That's honor, if ever I saw it.
The Boy:
         Dying hope encompasses what I feel for this little boy. He starts the novel an innocent creature, and ends it having lost a father and the innocence the man tried to preserve. He's sheltered physically and mentally for as long as the man can keep him, but he still manages to keep some of the most encouraging qualities of any of the humans we encounter in the novel. He doesn't want to kill anyone. He doesn't want to take anyone's food unless they've already died. He doesn't want to steal. He doesn't want to leave anyone without, when he has none left to give. This is the one worth fighting for. This is the one that a man would endure hell for.
          He is inspiration, more than anything. The boy strikes hope in everyone he meets. Every beggar, every lost sole, every thief they encounter is touched by this boy in some way. Mostly because he is the last human left who would die before seeing another perish. He is the last of a dying thing, and it's not just hope. It's compassion. It's love. It's the need to put another over oneself. Cormac McCarthy isn't just saying that for this post-apocalyptic world, either. He's saying that this boy is rare today, now. This boy is a dying archetype, present in all times and all psyches. Or rather, not present any more.