When the book starts off, we are introduced to the boy as a young and immature character. He does not know how to take care of himself and he is in the care of his father. It makes sense that the boy would seem …show more content…
The boy knows that the man was cruel by completely abandoning the naked man on the road even though he had done something bad to them. When the father dies it is the boy who comes out as the fire bearer and represents all that is good. When the other man came up to the boy and told him he would not harm the boy, the boy’s first questioned to him was if he was one of the good guys and if he is carrying the fire. The boy asks, “How do I know you're one of the good guys? You don’t. You'll have to take a shot. Are you carrying the fire? Am I what? Carrying the fire. You're kind of weirded out, aren’t you? No. Just a little. Yeah. That's okay. So are you? What, carrying the fire? Yes. Yeah. We are.”(283-284). After the death of his father, the boy meets a man who is willing to take care of him but the boy makes sure that he is of the good guys. The boy is mature enough to understand the need to be good and especially carry the fire (representing good and showing morals). The man doesn’t get this at first but he soon realizes what the boy was asking him and he says yes. The boy is mature enough to realize that he needs to find others that have morals and that want to carry the fire, which represents all that is