“To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering,” claimed Friedrich Nietzsche. There comes a time every human faces an adversity or obstacle which challenges one’s personal morals and principalities. In Cormac McCarthy’s novel The Road, each day of the characters’ journey down the road numerous problem emerge that challenges both the Papa and the Boy to decide from right and wrong. Their post-apocalyptic world is merely a thread of what it once was; over-ruled by the wickedness that has created a desolate world. Their journey encompasses the meaning they discover through their continuous suffering and constant battle to respond with good or evil intentions to ensure their survival in this catastrophic world. In Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, the theme of good vs. evil is developed through symbolism, imagery, characters perspective, tone, and spirituality which fabricate the desolate and dangerous world both the father and his son are living in.
Characterization plays an impactful role in the plot of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road. The manner in which McCarthy creates his characters is minimalist, conveying the hopelessness and emptiness that is surrounding the characters. One of the main aspect about the characters that can be overlooked is the notion that the name of neither the boy’s nor the man’s characters’ names is revealed. This simple choice in characterization is used by McCarthy to add a sense of realism to the time and setting the characters are placed upon. They both are in a world where nothing is left but the corrupted minds of humans and remnants of the past. Excluding the name can help foreshadow that not everything will last long, therefore names have no need in being incorporated for the main characters. According to the Shmoop Editorial Team not in cooperating the names of the main characters of The Road universalizes the characters to represent humanity as a whole. “McCarthy has deliberately left them nameless to make them symbolic for all people like them left in the world” (Shmoop Editorial Team).
There are a few specifics that are revealed to the audience regarding the relationship that both the man and the boy share. It is evident that the man is the papa of the boy due to the ample text that portray the boy communicating to the man as his “Papa”. The relationship that the Papa and his son share, powerfully influences the decisions of the father’s action. Early in the book the father makes it clear that the boy is the only reason he is living. McCarthy explains “That the boy was all that stood between him and death” (Cormac McCarthy). This shows the abundant care and love that the father has for his son, drawing attention to the man’s sole purpose – the safety of is his son.  which can sometime cause him to commit questionable acts that may come across dangerous and spontaneous.
The presences of the boy is a force that constantly reminds the father to keep his sanity and stay away from action that would cause them to be like the ‘bad guys’. The boys represent the good in the entire plot of The Road. He Through the boys a new layer is discovered of the man, a soft part that is due to his love for his son. “The Man's devotion to his son doesn't diminish his toughness; if anything, it only makes him fiercer” (Shmoop Editorial Team). The selflessness that is revealed through the man actions in story create an empowering super dad that is will sacrifice it all for his son. The boy is the mediator who helps his father have a balanced and sane life. This part of the man depicts him as a superhero in certain notion that he is quick to react in respect to the scenario but is also mindful and has intentions focused on the survival of his son. One of the strongest scenes in the novel is the part when the father commands for the child to commit suicide. Crazy right? The Father hands the son the pistol “you know how to do it. You put it in your mouth and point it up. Do it quick and hard” (Cormac McCarthy). This scene although is intense and show a vulgar moment shows the love and sacrifice he is willing to take for his son – no it’s not crazy. The father is willing to sacrifice himself, a huge moment that gives his son a chance to run but also die if plan doesn’t follow through. The actually beauty that show the father’s soft side is the moment that he has after, not the command itself although it was filled with good intentions. He realizes that he rather spend the last minutes with his son than to put him through something like this, after looking deeply into the Boys eyes. His eye open to realize that the ultimate sacrifice is to wait with his son rather than pursue a battle.
The father is the parental figure which is essentially the foundation and stronghold of the Boy. Without the father the boy would be at risk of being eaten by cannibals or harmed by ‘the bad guys’ that the farther warns him of. In novel there is a strong separation between good and evil which fight against each other. “You wanted to know what the bad guys look like. Now you know.” Expresses the father in to the Boy. The bad guys are evoked by evil and distorted morals that separate them from a humanistic conscious. In The Road the bag guys have lost their purpose and more like animals in the way they act, it is all about survival. There always seems to be a constant curiosity with the boy and getting to understand the bad guy, and see the good in them. 
God’s ambiguity is prevalent in the Papa’s mission of Good vs. Evil, throughout the entire novel both the Boy’s and Papa’s spirituality and curiosity distinguish them to become the good guys.  Early in the novel the father claimed “If he is not the word of God, God never spoke”. Metaphorically this statement was said by the man referring to his child to some of the similar characteristics his son shares with God, such as love. In the book of Genesis God’s power is depicted through speech, the father’s declaration is that “either his son is the word of God, or, for all practical purpose, the universe is a godless one (Wielenberg, Erik J.). The observation creates by the father prove that his actions are influenced and devoted by the boy; who ultimately represents God. An illustration of the ambiguity of God is the illusion to Elijah through represented the old man named Ely. Like Elijah, Ely also new that something similar was to come and which is what caused him to run into the wild wondering around. There always is a divine respect towards god that is reflected mostly through the boy. These are just small views of the spectrum of god ambiguity and how he influences both the Boy and Papa spiritually and through messengers.
Often there are numerous interruption in the novel of flashbacks and memories which damage the father. One of the events which questions Papa’s mental state is the wife’s suicide that continuously attacks the him through his rare flash backs and the dreams made up of the memories of his past. One of the sense that question the survival of the man is his flash back at the beginning of the novel.
“I am begging you. I’ll do anything. Such as what? I should have done it a long time ago. When there were three bullets in the gun instead of two. I was stupid … You can’t protect us. You say you would die for us but what good does is that? I’d take him with me if it weren’t for you. You Know I would. It’s the right thing to do.” (McCarthy, 56).
This scene introduces another parental perspective that conflicts with his decision to allow him and the boy to live on in hope of finding something better – a safe haven – a new world. This conflicts the man to battle internally with himself if it was a justified action to live on or if it were better to commit a selfish act and end all of their lives. The boy help the father decide through the ultimate dilemma of the entire novel of good vs. evil. He was want kept him from killing his entire family because of the hope he held in his on.
The setting of the Road is most likely the strongest force that the most powerful force that essentially shapes both the character and the plots. Considering the horrid remnants that are left of the past of humanity, the imagery and impact that is left out from the road and their surrounding world is striking. One of the ways that McCarthy conveys the setting of The Road is through the use of vivid imagery at the beginning of the novel. One of the first views that is shared with the audience is the gloominess and grayness that overwhelms the entire world as far as both the man and boy experience through their journey down the road. “Nights dark beyond darkness and the days grayer each one than what had gone before. Like some cold glaucoma dimming away the world.” There is nothing left in the world, the earthy seems to be naked and empty. There are no animals, the smallest amount of humans – mostly bad, and the no sunlight which can interpret the world is slowly dying. This help conveys the audience to believe the theme of good vs. evil through the darkness and meekness in the world
Another depiction of what is going on the mans and boy’s world at the very beginning of the story can be interpreted through a dream. This dream is by far one of the most morbid interruption that occurs in The Road by Cormac McCarthy. In the man’s dream he is going through a dark cave following a tunnel of light to exist it. He then enters through into a dangerous world with a monster at the and gray gloominess that is hard to look through. According to the Online Symbolism Dictionary the dragon like monster that he sees often represents chaos and untamed nature (Protas, Allison), which is highly prevalent in the real world the father and his boy are living in.   This merely represents the father’s main feelings of the setting and his survival during the road. It is evident that the man is scared and is fearing what he sees in his dream, the setting help show his emotions and tone of the reality that he will wake up. The world is consumed by monstrous people and darkness which creates a perfect setting for a battle of good vs. evil which he would have to face throughout the road to ensure himself of his son’s survival.
There are many factors that impact the character’s journey and decision making of good vs. evil but the ultimate purpose of the theme is to be ‘the good guys’. In their journey down the road there is one ultimate focus for the man and his boy; “carrying the fire”. Not being indulged into the chaotic world is the ultimate world, and fire represents the hope that the father has not only for his son but for humanity. This saying the Cormac McCarthy created was to a reminder to the audience the importance of the fire in plot of the story. In many perspective fire is one of the most essential needs for humanity and has one the most profound meanings. In multiple religions fire is a symbol of divinity (Julien, Nadia). “In Egypt it represents a sense of superiority and control.” (Protas, Allsion). “Carrying the fire” is essential to both characters and distinguishes them from the ‘bad guys’ that the father mentions. This symbolic saying takes profound toll on the actions and decision the father take or performs. At the end of the novel there before the father passes, the father states that his son must “carry the fire” no matter what, and he assures the boy that he is the fire that has lit up this desolate world which they both live in. This allows us to make conclusion that the man was won his battle in good vs. evil, and that now the boy must do like his father at fight to be like the ‘good guys’.
The Road, by Cormac McCarthy portrays the essential theme of a battle of good vs. evil. Throughout both of their journey’s down the road they both come to the realization that it is more than just survival but a way of living. Whether their influences come from each other, the setting, external characters, God, or mere memories of the past they must fight to sustain the fire, and be the ‘good guys’. The father and son fight to keep their good morals and maintain themselves to persevere through all obstacles that come their way in the novel regardless of the horrific things that they both encounter through their long and dangerous journey. Down this desolate and gray road which is essentially in their eyes all that is left of the world they fight until they have due what is correct. Through symbolism, imagery, characters perspective, tone, and spirituality the theme of good vs. evil is developed

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Resources Cited
Crosswhite, Jamie. “Carrying the Fire”: McCarthy Bullets As Shells of life in  A post-Apocalyptic World”. Explicator 69.3 (2011). Web.
Julien, Nadia: The Mammoth Dictionary of Symbols: Understanding the Hidden Language of Symbols. New York: Carol and Graf Publishers, Inc., 1996.
McCarthy, Cormac. The Road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.
"Online Symbolism Dictionary." Online Symbolism Dictionary. Allison Portas, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Shmoop Editorial Theme. “The Man in The Road.” Shmoop. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 29 March. 2016.
Wielenberg, Erik J. “God, Mortality, and Meaning in Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road” The Cormac McCarthy Journal 8.1 (2010). 1-19. 11 May 2010. Web.