why is darkness so important in the novel "the road"

Darkness symbolizes the world as it has become. The characters look for light as they try to survive. The world has experienced a Holocaust and been affected by a "long shear of light." Everything is dead, and for the humans who survive, well, it's all about surviving.

The main character is never named; the road is hard, and the father needs to instruct his son about what it's going to take when he's left on his own. Groups of men lay in wait; they wait to take what little others have been able to gather, and they wait for food. A lonely traveler just might be breakfast; the young son would be considered a delicacy.

The story is dark. The world is almost dead. There is no vegetation, and there are few sources of food. The opening paragrapg of the story provides its own description; “Nights dark beyond darkness and the days more gray each one than what had gone before. Like the onset of some cold glaucoma dimming away the world.”

I think you'll love this book!