Man struck by lightning

(pp. 50-53)
The episode involves the father and son 
passes a man who has been struck by lightning and is dying. The man decides they cannot help him as they need to survive and this will create a burden and more problems fro them. This episode has impacted on me through the horror and devastation the world has come to. There is no sense of sanity and little humanity in this episode and you feel as if the father and boy have lost their sense of humanity, especially the father as they don't help the man and maybe not one of the true 'good guys' anymore. Contradicting this is the fact they are out to survive and do not want to be slowed down so there is a compromise between being helpful and being selfish. Although the father and boy are the 'good guys' in the novel this episode reinstates that everyone is out to save themselves, not the world.
This episode impacts on the reader revealing the harsh reality of the life the boy and father now lead. It makes the audience feel sympathy for the father as he tries to lose his identity through placing his credit cards and the photo of his wife on the road, he tries to leave his old life behind him and keep going along the never ending 'road'. The episode makes me feel upset by what the father does as it is very hard to let go of the past and the loss of his old life is so huge but also I feel for the boy as his innocent character is someone you warm to, and you almost want to try to explain why they have to leave the man behind and want to comfort him. 
McCarthy uses the boy as a symbol of the innocence which evokes a character who the reader can relate to as they are in the same position as they do not quite understand how the world has become like this. Although the father is not over protective of his son and tries to let him realise why they cannot help him but why they are still the 'good guys'. When the father scatters his personal belongings, McCarthy evokes the response of feeling sympathy for him and feeling his loss through listing things that reveal him to the world to show who he is. Also these items were once important in society however they are worthless now. The dialogue between the father and son is emotionless and shows a distance between their relationship and reflects their tiredness and exhaustion as they are not enthusiastic about anything. The man who has been struck by lightning looks frightening for the boy to see and so the father does not go over to him as he tries to protect the boy from the horrors of the world.
 'One of his eyes was burnt shut and his hair was but a nitty wig of ash upon his blackened skull'
This creates a horrific image for the reader and gives an insight into the devastation the world has suffered. McCarthy uses plenty of description in this image to emphasise to damage caused to this person and how he has become an animal almost. 
This episode gives the audience an insight into how the plot will progress next as the boy and man continue along the road coming across the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys' and the horrors they are yet to witness. 
The man who has been struck by lightning is critically injured and is helpless. The boy's naive and innocent character is puzzled to why they cannot help the man. However the father knows they cannot be slowed down by a crippled man and will not be able to help him survive. 

'Can't we help him? Papa?'

'No. We can't help him. There's nothing to be done for him.' 

The boy's innocence and vunerablity is shown in this episode as he pleas his father to help the dying man. McCarthy uses short sentences here making the fathers point very clear and has no tone to the speech to make the boy understand why they cannot help the man. Also the boy's questioning of his father's decision shows his confusion and uncertainty and worry of what will happen to the man and to them. The father does not comfort the boy but just tells him the fact without explanation. This shows the relationship between the father and son being distanced as there is no emotion used in the dialogue between them which creates a sombre tone. From this episode, as a reader we learn that the boy begins to realise they have to fend for themselves and the father tries to move on from his old life by getting rid of personal belongings. 

The language is in keeping with the rest of the novel as it seems to be in a monotone. McCarthy uses symbolism in this novel on a few occasions. In this episode I believe that the symbol of 'the road' is a path of guidance and as they travel further on the road they see more and more horrors and begin to loose humanity. 'The road' is also an escape route from the hellish sites they witness, and it has some sort of safety to it. The father and son are very much the characters of 'good guys' in the novel as they don't do anything particularly bad and remain sane. This episode is considered a key episode because you understand the innocence of the boy and the horrors he witnesses and how he copes with them, you also learn of how the relationship between the father and son works. This episode stands out in the novel, although there is no chapters because it gives the reader an insight in the horrors the two witness and what the world and nature is capable of and the reality of life in this critical days of Earth.