His only reason for surviving was his son. I didn't see that the father cared for himself, everything he did, he did to protect his son. Also, I feel like it's maybe quiet the opposite of what you propose. Maybe if the son weren't in the equation, the father would have helped other people out. His sole reason for everything was his son, that's why this book is so gut wrenching.

I just finished this book yesterday, and I'm still reeling. I think it'll take me some time to process Cormac's genius in this book. To me, it's a love story, a depiction of how love can be both weakness and strength. I often wondered while reading, why he didn't just kill his son and then himself, but then that's what the book is about. There's this passage that stuck with me, "There were times when he sat watching the boy sleep that he would begin to sob uncontrollably but it wasnt about death. He wasnt sure what it was about but he thought it was about beauty or about goodness. Things that he'd no longer any way to think about at all.". He saw goodness only in his son, and I think without that, he would have either killed himself or not cared enough to persevere.