I.
This secret occurred between the young boy and his "Papa." Throughout the story, the boy had a pessimistic attitude toward the future. I suspect his secret is that he felt they had no hope of survival. His true feelings became apparent on page 55. The two were resting. The boy was woken up because of the severity of his father's cough. Papa told the boy "Its okay. Go to sleep." and the boy replied, "I wish I was with my mom." Further on, the author explains the death of the boy's mother. This validates my point that he had little will to go on. Meanwhile, his father was fighting for their survival.
II.
Both secrets are from McCarthy’s The Road. This time around, it is the father who has a secret from the boy. In the conversation held between Papa and his wife prior to her suicide, the woman mentions how if anything were to happen to Papa, that she and her son would be doomed. Even along side her family, the woman still felt hopeless. She told Papa on page 56 that, "I'd take him with me if it weren't for you" and soon thereafter, she committed suicide. Papa has never told his son that his mother wished to end both of their lives so as not to end up living in such disaster. Papa has not shared this secret with the boy and I predict he never will.
III.
I feel that the secret I chose is very significant in understanding the narrative. The boy seems very weak and hopeless and with characteristics such as these, it seems to me that Papa may be on his own soon. If Papa were to reveal his secret to the boy, the boy would probably attempt suicide himself. Thus far into the novel leads me to believe it to be one of two things: 1: a story of courage and the strength of family and love, or 2: one man's desperation for survival and his trials along the way.
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BA#1--The Road
I agree with you about each of the two characters having secrets. Especially your point of the dad keeping the mother's wishes for the boy a secret from him. However, I don't think that the boy is as pessimistic as you make him out to be. If anything, the father is the more down-trodden of the two. Yes, he forces them to go on (mainly because he is aware of the danger which the boy in unaware/naive) but throughout the novel the father has this subtle feeling that in fact, they won't make it to safety. The boy's, well boy-ishness. is what really gives him the energy to keep going. The boy is inquiring and wondering about things all the time, and the father can really see his son's potential and curiosity, and in effect optimism, in a bleak world with seemingly no future. I think the boy's secret is really his fear and loneliness. He gives us a glimpse when he says he wants to be with his mother, but I think that might have been misinterpreted-- He means that in a purely childlike, mother-craving way; it shows he misses his mom and is lonely. So yes, they both have secrets. But for the most part, they are secrets that are kept form even us, the reader, and we must dig for clues.
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