Accepting the Child as the Child

My level of patience with this novel is slowly narrowing. It seems as though every time something crazy is about to happen to these two, they somehow manage to survive untouched. And as if being one of the last few survivors on Earth wasn't crazy enough, the author adds deranged cannibals into the equation. Their journey has turned into an escape from mankind instead of a quest to find others like them (although that was their initial goal). 

As the novel goes on, the child is increasingly annoying me with his questions about death. What really annoys me though, is the father's inability to just be honest with the kid and start treating him like an adult. I suppose I'm taking this 'just do something' stand because the kid's age is unknown. Therefore, I can play with whatever age I want him to be. Probably my rush-reading through this excerpt influenced my point of view at the moment, but I just want the kid to grow up and stop acting like he's a baby. 

But I have to face the facts. The child is the child. Not a teenager, not an adult. So it's because of this that I can't pretend like he's older when in truth, he's probably a lot younger than what he seems to be. Instead of complaining about the kid's fears, I should learn form his courage. One I'd definitely find hard to get if I was wandering alone with my dad for what has become forever in the snow.