Shooting of the 'roadrat'...

This particular event in the novel finally introduces the reader to the sorts of people the father and son are in fear of. Until now, the reader has had to imagine the sort of monsterous humans this world has created which has kept the novel within this mysterious environment. Now, the ambience has changed to a sudden, intensified fear. In my opinion, this has dubbed down the amount of tension within the novel because it is better to fear the enemy you know, yet the fierce mood remains throughout this event.
The fathers' paranoia increases as he senses the danger coming from the roadrat.
'Why are you looking at him?
I can look where i want to.
No you cant. If you look at him again i'll shoot you.' 
This represents the obvious duty the father feels he has for his son and, for once in the novel, creates this emotive ambience which conflicts nicely with the tense atmosphere. Blunt yet emotive, the language used drives out and highlights the fathers love for the boy, and because he has hidden his feelings for so long, it slips out during his burst of rage. This event also represents power figures within the novel. Power is no longer about wealth or relatives, it's about weaponry and strength. Because the father has a loaded weapon, he has more power over the roadrat, which is presented through his aggresive tone.
The roadrats based in the novel are used to represent the 'bad guys' the characters are trying to remain from becoming. By introducing the roadrats in such a tense atmosphere increases our obvious hate and disgust for them, increasing our empathy for the father and boy.
McCarthy uses the blunt conversation as a reference to his emotionally detatched technique, even characters within the novel cannot express themselves in a form in which we have empathy for them. As the reader, the apparently dull conversation infact strengthened the novel and my respect for the father, yet it still gave no obvious emotions, so i still feel extremely unattached and alone.