Why doesn’t the man follow his wife? McCarthy gives us at least three reasons, each grounded in a truth beyond the world of the novel. First, the father sees his son as a “warrant” for God’s existence, a witness to the goodness of life (and therefore some kind of Life-Giver) even in a world with few other signs of goodness.15 Second, he believes that God commanded him to protect the life of his son: “My job is to take care of you. I was appointed to do that by God.”16 The father’s responsibility to God is not subject to speculations about the possibility of reducing his son’s suffering by
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