The Man's ability to focus on survival is astounding. He doesn't blink when he sees a corpse lying in the bed; instead, he grabs the blanket covering it. Perhaps McCarthy uses this scene to illustrate just how bad things have gotten, but we also think it shows the flipside of being so handy. The Man, in trying keep himself and The Boy alive, often doesn't display much compassion. (At least not as much compassion as The Boy would prefer.) Does The Man really need this blanket, or could he have shown more respect for the dead? We don't want to judge The Man too much – partly because we've never been in such a dire situation – but just keep in mind that The Boy keeps tabs on their ethics.

There are three possible levels of resourcefulness in this situation. Most people would find themselves on level one. A level-one forager would see the rat excrement in the cornmeal and wouldn't mess with it. A level-two forager would pick out the excrement by hand. A level-three forager, which The Man clearly is, would find a window screen and sift the cornmeal before making corn pancakes.