For the man, the only thing close to God is his son, "If he is not the word of God then God never spoke." As far as the man is concerned, once the boy dies then God is dead. The character of Ely, the "anti-prophet", points out that, "There is no God and we are his prophets." The futility of this statement seems to ring true within the context of the novel. If the boy is indeed a Christ-figure, he has shown up too late because there is nobody left to save.