Creative Assessment

Why do the characters in The Road not have names?

I believe that it's not the fact that you don't end up relating to the characters, I just feel it ends up being unnecessary to have names. We are only following these two.

name  

/nām/

Noun A word or set of words by which a person, animal, place, or thing is known, addressed, or referred to.

Verb Give a name to: "hundreds of diseases with were isolated and named"; "she named the child Edward".

Adjective (of a person or commercial product) Having a name that is widely known: "name brands geared to niche markets".

Synonyms noun.   reputation - title - appellation - denomination - repute verb.   nominate - call - designate - appoint - term - denominate What is reputation to two people? You call someone by their name to differentiate them from a crowd of others. The world is so secluded that you needn't have a name. What is a name in a world where you don't matter anymore? What is a name in a burned, and dying world? A name can be seen as a confirmation of who you are. In this world, who is there to learn who you are?  You don't need someones name to become close to them. A name is a label. The Road doesn't need names. Whatever the reason McCarthy chose to not include names, this is just my take. It's like the Holocaust. Your name in unimportant. Only your number matters.  Last 2 on earth? Will you find what you were looking for? Were you actually looking for something? Were you finding a reason to live? Or were you just trying to distract yourself?