In Cormac McCarthy’s “The Road,” the old man the father and son encounter calls himself Ely.
Ely appears late in the journey through the devastated landscape. He is an elderly, nearly blind wanderer who has survived by moving along the road and relying on occasional acts of charity. The boy insists that he and his father share food with him, creating one of the novel’s clearest moments of compassion.
The name carries an important qualification: Ely admits that it is not his real name. He says he does not want anyone to know who he is or where he has been. Even so, “Ely” is the only personal name given to a character in the novel, while the central figures remain simply “the man” and “the boy.”
Readers sometimes confuse the novel with the 2009 film adaptation, but Ely is also named in the film. The name may evoke biblical associations, although McCarthy leaves its precise significance open.