"The Road"

I have read more of the road and I think this may become one of my favorite books. I am somewhat near the end of the novel and the father and son have just ran into another human. This is the first human contact they have had in a long time. They find an old man walking on the road and the young boy begs his father to help the man, and the father reluctantly follows. Eventually, however, the father tells the son that they cannot help the savage. I think that this is a very questionable decision and reveals a lot about human nature. If you were to imagine yourself in the same situation as this father and son find themselves, would you help a weak, old man, who may be the only other survivor on earth? Or would you leave him on the side of the road, because it is not worth wasting you limited supplies on him? I do understand that the old man is too weak to continue on the journey, but does that mean it is okay to leave him on the side of the road to die? The father really has the main priority in mind which is living, and he will go through any measure, even if it causes disappointment for his son, to keep them alive. It is a very interesting example of human nature and when food, shelter and supplies are scarce, every man is for his own and there is survival only for the fittest. The novel gets even more gripping as it progresses, and I am interested to read in detail about the epic disaster that led the father and son to live in this state: being deserted, and living in destruction.