Hunter ReaganMrs. PaschallHonors English IVOctober 30, 2013The Good Guy RulesIn Cormac McCarthy's The Road, a father and son struggle to survive in a post-apocalyptic world surrounded by evil. They always refer to themselves as “the good guys” (McCarthy 66) and try not to become evil. They view things like cannibalism as evil and would rather go hungry than succumb to this evil. The father constantly tries to distract the child from the horrible scenes that characterize this environment. When he sees himself as the good guys, he stops himself from committing the slightest evil. Erik J. Wielenberg says it best when he lists the rules of the good guys. He lists them as follows: "1. Don't eat people. 2. Don't steal. 3. Don't lie. 4. Keep your promises. 5. Help others. 6. Never give up." (Wielenberg 4). All of these rules also have biblical implications. These rules are taught by the father to his son. Even if the father doesn't always follow them. Father struggles to follow rule five, “Help others.” The biblical reasoning for this rule is: “Whatsoever ye would have men do unto you, do ye also unto them” (King James Version, Luke 6:31). The child continually wants to help everyone who doesn't appear to be bad guys. At one point, the man and his son find a man who has been struck by lightning. The child asks himself: "Can't we help him?" Dad?" (McCarthy 25). The father does not want to give him any help. This conflict is illustrated when the child and the father meet a man named "Ely". The man seems tired of the man, as shown in the speech: “He looked up and down the road If it’s an ambush, he goes first,” he said (McCarthy 83). that man, as shown in the case where the middle son of the paper lives by seven rules that make them the good guys They do what they have to do to survive, without compromising their morality They are the embodiment. of a light that shines in the darkness The conflict between the opposing personalities of father and son is illustrated by examining how they feel about the rules. The child has difficulty following all the rules except the one. number six, while the father struggles with all the rules except number six. This shows that perhaps the characters complement each other. It also shows that the son is perhaps better suited than his father to live in this genre. of people. This fact shows that the father taught the child correctly. BibleGateway.com: an online Bible available in more than 100 versions and 50 languages. Np, and Web. November 14, 2013. McCarthy, Cormac. The road. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2006. Print.