Extras

Speculation on the "disaster"

Three causes come to mind with McCarthy's description of the characters' environment. First, and probably the most obvious, a volcano may have caused the end of the world. This would easily explain all of the ash and even the large drop in population. This seems a little hard to imagine since we have not seen this great a catastrophe in our lifetime but it is possible, just ask anyone from Pompei. Second, the second coming of Christ may have caused the destruction. Scenes in the Bible may suggest this kind of world after the return of Christ. However, religion plays little to no role in the rest of the book so it may be unlikely that Christ caused the mess. The third recognizable possiblity is that people may have caused the problem. Pollution may have caused the downfall of man and the environment but this leaves the ash in question.

Surviving: was it possible?

.95 Liter ||~ 2 Quarts 1.90 Liters ||~ 4 Quarts 3.79 Liters ||~ 10 Quarts 9.46 Liters ||~ 20 Quarts 18.93 Liters ||
 * ~ Max Daily Temperature ||||||||||||~ Number of Days in the Shade ||
 * ^  ||~ No Water ||~ 1 Quart
 * ~ 120 F / 48.9 C || 2 days || 2 || 2 || 2.5 || 3 || 4.5 ||
 * ~ 110 F / 43.3 C || 3 || 3 || 3.5 || 4 || 5 || 7 ||
 * ~ 100 F / 37.8 C || 5 || 5.5 || 6 || 7 || 9.5 || 13.5 ||
 * ~ 90 F / 32.2 C || 7 || 8 || 9 || 10.5 || 15 || 23 ||
 * ~ 80 F / 26.7 C || 9 || 10 || 11 || 13 || 19 || 29 ||
 * ~ 70 F / 21.1 C || 10 || 11 || 12 || 14 || 20.5 || 32 ||
 * ~ 60 F / 15.6 C || 10 || 11 || 12 || 14 || 21 || 32 ||
 * ~ 50 F / 10.0 C || 10 || 11 || 12 || 14.5 || 21 || 32 ||

According to the chart above the colder it seems to get the longer one is able to live without water. So the fact that the two survived for as long as they did is not really all that spectacular. []

There is much speculation on how long someone can survive without food. A person can go as long as a month without eating if not longer; it all depends on how the body reacts. If water is being consumed the person will naturally live longer than someone who does not have a water intake. []