The Ending of The Road

when the father dies (299-300)

I think this is the end of the novel because of the death of the father. Throughout the entire book we are looking upon a shared journey between boy and father. Surely without the father being there the journey has ended? I know that the boy will now go on to have a new start and therefore his journey isn't over but the whole venture was about this unbreakable bond, the dependency on each other for survival, the lost hope they share but is reignited by the fact they have each other.

A quote from the novel says, 'In that cold corridor they had reached the point of no return which was measured from the first solely by the light they carried with them.' 

McCarthy uses the setting of a 'cold corridor' the fact that its cold carries on the bleak theme that runs throughout. Also the corridor could be symbolic also as a passageway for the leaving of the fathers spirit/soul as he is now dead. From this it could be determined the end because throughout the entire novel the father promises the son that he will not leave him, I think McCarthy did this so that he could really emphasise when the ending occurred, now that the promise has been broken, it was that promise in the first place that meant that the journey could carry on. 

It could also suggest the end because they have 'reached the point of no return' which is pretty self explanatory. But they have reached the point where it's physically impossible for them to turn back and there's no going forward for the both of them either. 

Finally the light they are carrying has gone out. Light can be used as a symbol of a goal or hope in this case the light has gone out, there are no more goals and the hope that was there for them has gone (people may argue that they didn't have any hope left but why would they have carried on so long?). It can also mean a symbol of safety, security and life. The boys safety and security is now gone, he is unsafe and vulnerable. The fact that it's gone out shows a life that's been lost. My last point is that this was the light they carried with them their whole journey, the lights gone out - journey ended. A bit like Mr. Magoriums Wonder Emporium when he is on his last pair of shoes.