A successful example of a non-nuclear family is the men with the diesel truck on the road. The reader can tell that these groups of men are thriving when McCarthy writes, “How much do you have? There are three fifty-five gallon drums in the bed” (McCarthy 64). The fact that these men have more than a hundred gallons of diesel to fuel a truck demonstrates their success in McCarthy's post-apocalyptic world. This is a successful means because these men have a means of transportation across the country unlike the man and boy who walk everywhere. Another example of a non-nuclear family that seems to be able to survive is the four men and two women cannibals with a basement of people used as a food source. This group of cannibals can be considered successful because they have a secure food source and a permanent home. These cannibals had the ability to protect their food with a “large lock made of stacked steel plates” (McCarthy