"Carry the Fire"
Don't let it fade away.
A few months ago, I experienced “The Road”.
And a few days ago, I was reminded of these words on Fury's Telegram channel.
It made me dive back into the story for a second time.
The movie tells the story of a father and son in an apocalyptic setting
The trumpets have sounded, but a few have been forgotten on earth.
The earth is now a circle of hell, and it’s in this circle that a father must protect his son.
When you read this novel or see the film: it’s dark.
This world is vile, dirty, disgusting.
The humans who inhabit it are awful.
95% of post-apo universes are health ballads compared to this one.
That’s the paradox of this tale.
In the story with the least hope, the author manages to convey infinite amount of hope.
One of the messages the father repeats to his son:
“You have to Carry the Fire”.
“Carry the Fire”
There are many analyses of what Fire is.
I’m going to try my own.
Fire is hope.
Like Prometheus, who brought fire to mankind, the father has fire in him and wants to pass it on to his son.
This fire is the hope that the world will work out.
Without that fire : darkness. The world is lost.
The world of “The Road” wants to extinguish every fire.
He wants to break every last human being.
Stealing everything from them.
This world screams “There is no hope”.
But the father defends the fire inside him.
He draws lines he will not cross.
The world can take everything from him, but he will not become what he is not.
That’s what he wants to pass on to his son.
Fire for the strength to stay who you are.
Not to betray ourselves.
Just because the world has become evil doesn’t mean you have to become evil.
You can always be the light, the fire…
To light the way for others.
The father shows endless resilience because he loves his son.
The author reveals that this book is a love letter to his son.
“The real story is the love between a father and a son.”
“If you really love your son, it doesn’t make any difference. How bad the world gets. You will stick with him, die for him. You can do anything for him.”
Words that are translated in the film by these powerful words:
“If i were God, i would have made the world no different because i have you.”
The world is despicable, but it’s still perfect because it has someone he loves with all his heart close to him.
There’s a lot of wisdom in those words.
The world is perfect, because that person is there.
Fire is the love that drives us to make the world a better place for the people we love.
We have to carry it too.
The world can be against us.
We can’t let it steal our fire.
We can’t let it extinguish our flame.
Life is not easy.
As I said in my previous e-mail: sometimes unfair.
Attacks on our fire are many.
The world being bad doesn’t mean we have to become bad.
The world being unfair doesn’t mean we have to become unfair.
As long as we have fire, we won’t become the offspring of this world.
But we will be the ones shaping this world.
Protect your fire.
Wear it with pride.
Light your way and the way of others.
“Carry your Fire”