The novel begins with the man and boy in the woods, the boy asleep, as the two of them are making their journey along the road. The story is set in a post apocalyptic world, date and place unnamed, though the reader can assume it's somewhere in what was the united states because the man tells the boy that they're walking the state roads. Neither the man nor the boy is given a name this anonymity adds to the novel's tone that this could be happening anywhere, to anyone. Stylistically, the writing is very fragmented and sparse from the beginning, which reflects the barren and bleak landscape through which the man and boy are traveling.

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Mccarthy also chooses to use no quotation marks in dialogue and for some contractions, he leaves out the apostrophes. Because this is a post apocalyptic story, the exemption of these punctuation elements might serve as a way for mccarthy to indicate that in this new world, remnants of the old world mdash like electricity, running water, and humanity mdash no longer exist, or they exist in very limited amounts. While the boy sleeps, the man reflects upon one of his dreams of a creature with dead eyes. The man's dreams play a large role throughout the novel the man tells both himself and the boy that good dreams are to be feared because they indicate a form of acceptance, and that death would inevitably be near. Bad dreams, on the other hand, are reassuring because they demonstrate that the man and boy are still persevering in the world they inhabit.

He is all the man has, and the man believes that he's been entrusted by god to protect the boy. When the boy wakes, they set out on the road yet again, making their way through a nuclear winter that follows them from start to finish as they make their way south to the coast, hoping to find a better life there, although the man knows there's no reason for him to hope that things will be different for them there. They have a grocery cart with them, filled with their belongings and supplies for their journey. They are running low on food, and the man is fighting a bad cough, one that sprays blood on the gray snow. Remnants of the old world often mdash like houses, billboards, and hotels mdash clash with the reality of the new world, reminding the man of the life he once lived. And he remembers his wife mdash who left him and the boy, presumably to kill herself and escape this horrible new world.

In one grocery store, the man finds a pop machine that has a single coca cola in it. The man likes to offer whatever he can to his son to make his world a bit more pleasant and to give him glimpses into the world that existed before him. The boy worries they'll run into someone, like the roadagents or bad guys who eat people in order to survive. The man has decided, too, that should roadagents find them, that he will kill the boy so that they cannot torture him, but he often wonders to himself if he would be able to do it if the time should ever come. They come upon a waterfall and the man and boy swim together, the man teaching the boy how to float.

It's a tender moment that suggests lessons that fathers would have taught their sons in the old world. Throughout the novel there are moments like this one at the waterfall, scenes that prove the bond between fathers and sons still exist in this new world. The father cares for his son, and teaches his son, and worries about his son's future under such uncertain circumstances. The boy is very concerned with making sure they are carrying the fire, assuring himself that he and his father are the good guys as opposed to the bad guys who eat dogs and other people. The man tells the boy stories of justice and courage from the old world in the hopes that such stories will keep the fire alive in the boy. The man hopes for a future that might again also harbor courage, justice, and humanity.

As they walk, they keep track of their location on a worn and tattered map that they must piece together like a puzzle each time they use it. They pass the burnt man and the boy wants to help him, but his father says they've got nothing to give him. The boy cries for the man, showing his kind heart and his compassionate nature in a world where very little humanity exists. The man has flashbacks about leaving his billfold behind earlier in the journey, after his wife left him and the boy. He recalls that he also left behind his only picture of his wife, and ponders whether he could have convinced her to stay alive with them.

The man remembers the night that his son was born, after the clocks all stopped, how he'd delivered the baby himself, marking the beginning of their intense father/son bond. A truck full of roadagents comes upon the man and the boy, who hide in the woods. The bad man grabs the boy, and the boy's father shoots the man in the head and both escape into the woods. Now the pistol has only one bullet left, and the man knows that this bullet is for his son should the time come. The boy wants to know if they are still the good guys, despite his father's committing a murder. The boy is a source of light for the man and the man believes that if there is any proof of god, the boy is it. As they travel, they are on a constant lookout for food, clothing, shoes, supplies, and roadagents.

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In one town, the boy thinks he sees a dog and a little boy and tries to chase after them. There are suspicious items in the house, such as piles of blankets and clothes and shoes and a bell attached to a string, but the man these. In the basement, the man and boy find naked people who are being kept alive for others to eat. They hide in the woods through the freezing night, the man feeling certain that this is the day when he's going to have to kill his son. The man leaves the boy to sleep while he explores, and he finds an old apple orchard with some dried out apples.

He continues to the house that's adjacent to the orchard, where he finds a tank of water. The man fills some jars with water, gathers the dried apples, and takes them back to the boy. The man and boy move on, but the perceptive boy asks his father about the people they found in the basement.