At the end of The Road, the father and son essentially reverse the roles they had assumed throughout the novel. The father becomes dependent due to an injury, and the son takes on the dual roles of protector and provider. The father ultimately succumbs to a cough, and his death leaves the son all alone to fend for himself. He is not left isolated for long when another family comes by and takes him into their circle.

The ending is a tragic but life-affirming coda to a desolate story. The father's passing and the boy's taking on the symbolic father role represents the cycle of nature that persists even in the face of humanity's negative influences. Nature is presented as an eternal force, even in this post-apocalyptic world. The theme is hammered home not just by the boy's coming of age but by the image of the trout in the water.

The boy's joining another group also contributes to the theme of life continuing onward. Instead of perishing alone, he gains a new family. The kindness of the family taking him in when contrasted with the bestial acts other humans have committed in the story illustrates how positive qualities have survived in such a harsh scenario. Ultimately the ending stresses that even when life is hard, it is still worth living.