Stories often, as they approach their conclusions, return to earlier symbols; the significance of earlier events is reevaluated in the context of the final stages. In The Road, an earlier sighting of a young boy -- in itself representing the boy's desire for companionship and comfort -- becomes even more meaningful when he it is the last question he asks his father. His father is wounded and ill, unable even to eat. Yet the boy persists:
Do you remember that little boy, Papa?
Yes. I remember him.
Do you think that he's all right that little boy?
Oh yes. I think he's all right.
Do you think he was lost?
No. I dont [sic] think he was lost.
I'm scared that he was lost.
I think he's all right.
But who will find him if he's lost? Who will find the little boy?
Goodness will find the little boy. It always has. It will again. (256)
And the father attempts to comfort his son, as he always has, answering his questions as best he can and giving him faith. The parallel between his son and the other "little boy" is redrawn, with both of them described as less lost and hungry than they were before. The father also assures him that they're both good, and that they're both safe -- an easy assertion for a dead man to make, but a comforting one nonetheless. The boy "slept close to his father that night" (256) and clearly loves him. In the end, he's proven right, as goodness, in the form of a traveling family, literally finds the son. The fate of the other little boy, though -- if he is, in fact, real -- is never resolved. They never see him again, and they never help him. They never have the chance. But he is probably all right.
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