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| An italian political figure who is seen in the 9th circle of hell having his head eaten by fellow traitorous italian politician Count Ugolino. The significance here is that in life, Ruggieri allowed Ugolino to starve in life, and here Ugolino eats him for all eternity. Ruggieri is also given the lower end of the stick here, as Ugolino is at least given the role of oppressor. |
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| The famous protagonist of The Illiad and Odyssey, Ulysses is found in the 8th pocket of the 8th circle of hell, and is given one of the longest speaking roles in The Inferno. This is significant because despite Dante's reverence for Greek and Roman culture, he places Ulysses very low as a result of his deceptive nature (eg. The Trojan Horse). This does not uphold Christian values, and Dante even creates a new voyage that Ulysses is said to have gone on to illustrate his point. |
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| This has to do with the irony in some of Dante's choices regarding who belongs in what circle of Hell. For example, his mentor Brunetto is placed in the 7th circle of hell despite being held in very high esteem by Dante. This concept is significant because it obscures the definition of sin as it is normally thought of, making our and Dante's journeys far more morally complex. |
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| A fellow Italian poet, Pier is placed in the 7th circle of hell for committing suicide. And though suicide is prohibited and frowned upon in most religions, Dante again complicates his case, by showing that Pier's suicide came out of being falsely accused and imprisoned, circumstances outside his control. This again complicates the definition of sin and Dante's placement of people in the Inferno. |
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| In The Road, the phrase carrying the fire is meant ostensibly to mean keeping up the last remaining notions and practices of humanity and god in a world seemingly without it. But it is also an example of the Man trying to use simple language to create a world for the boy, where in reality there really isn't one. |
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| In The Road, south is the destination towards which they are always supposed to be going, because it is warm. Although the more accurate reason for "Going South" is simply to give them somewhere to go, a purpose for existing on a day-to-day basis. They cannot "carry the fire" if there is nowhere to carry it to. Also, there's a question of if there is even a south, or if the road even carries them there, as both the south and the road they're on are both pre-apocalypse ideas. |
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| The man's wife and the boys mother in the pre-apocalyptic world. She is mentioned sometimes by the boy when he says he would like to "be with her," or in other words, die. She represents the logical lack of faith in the pre-apocalypse world, although she refuses to try and create any meaning for her son, which is one of The Man's main jobs in the book |
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| The man struck by lightening |
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| This is the first example of the boy witnessing human suffering in The Road. The man had been struck by lightening and though the boy wants to help him, his father insists they can't and they move on. This is significant because it shows the boy as the one character with empathy for seemingly everyone, a trait that reaffirms his "sacredness." |
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| A highway from the pre-apocalyptic world, it is the road the man and the boy take in their journey south, though it seems also to be followed by other survivors, though until the end it's only bad guys who are seen on the road. It's significance lies in how it's symbolic of most of the books major themes. Trust, because they have to trust that the pre-apocalyptic world's road will lead them where they want. It is travelled by both "the good guys" and "the bad guys," and symbolizes within itself the holy journey they're taking. |
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| They are the first physical representation of the bad guys spoken of throughout the book. They're existence is mainly significant in that it sets up the scene for one of the mans two precious bullets to be used, leaving them with only one bullet for potential suicide. It also gives an example of the types of people they expect to see when traveling the road. |
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| This is a term primarily used to address the boy and his father, but applies more broadly to any people in the post apocalyptic world who "carry the fire" and don't eat people. It's another example of the man using simplistic language to create a world out of nothing for the boy. It also gives the boy a sense of purpose and almost pride, being one of the rare "good guys." |
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| The only character in the book to have a name, although it's made clear that the name given is not his actual name. The significance of this is that names, like time and other concepts, are a pre-apocalyptic concept, with no value in this new world. The conversations had with him are among the longest in the book, and it is the only person who the man allows the boy to help. Also notable in their interaction is the lack of thank you on the part of Ely, which is significant of the point that manners and platitudes are a part of the pre-apocalyptic world, and have no place there. |
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| Yet another way for the man to paint a simplistic but meaningful portrait of the post-apocolyptic world for his son. The bad guys (who eat people) seemingly represent everyone who is encountered on the road, until the end of the text, when the first real good guys are met by the boy. |
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| The bunker is representitive in many ways of eden or paradise, all the needs they have are met by it, warmth, food, blankets, security etc. But the man does not want to stay there, for a variety of reasons that are made to be unclear. For one, staying sedentary would take away their purpose of traveling south on the road, which is the purpose for life the boy knows. Although logically it would make sense, because the bad guys are mostly on the road, and it would not be difficult to live in, or at the very least around the food filled bunker. |
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| The man and the boy find an "once grand house," which after opening a padlocked door inside, is discovered to house cannibals and the people who they eat. The boy and the man must escape quickly to avoid being eaten themselves. It is significant because it demonstrates the boys fear of opening unfamiliar doors, and more importantly, shows the man teaching the boy how to kill himself if need be, a task the man cannot do to his son himself, and which the boy also proves incapable of doing. |
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| A man who steals all the man and boys belongings but is later caught in the road, he is treated with anger and malice by the man, to the dismay of the boy. He is made to give them all his and there belongings, standing naked on the road. The significance is it shows the boys continuing humanity in contrast to the dwindling mental capacity of the man. they later return his clothes but he's gone, and it sets up the mans death, as well as the boys discovery of the man in the yellow parka |
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| The man in the yellow parka |
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| He is the man who discovers the boy following the death of his father. He is significant because this is how the book ends, with the boy seeing the first real "good guy" on the road, and he is also with his family, something the boy is unfamiliar with. His appearance also reaffirms the mans faith that the boy is somehow sacred, for in his time of need, he finds a family to help him continue on his journey to "carry the fire." |
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