The woman 

The context and representation in which the woman is portrayed.

The woman is mentioned sparsely throughout the novel, however so appears in his dreams at the beginning of the novel.  To the man the woman represents happiness and light and therefore does not belong in the world him and the boy are now living/ surviving in. The woman is mentioned at first, in the context of a romantic encounter the man once had with her, 'her nipples pipeclayed and her rib bones painted white. she wore a dress of gauze and her dark hair was carried up in combs of ivory, combs of shells.  The man missed her. Gradually however, the image and memories of the woman became darker and colder. the reader finds out that his bride killed herself, without even saying goodbye to her own son. She was cruel to the man, and told him, 'she had claimed a new lover in death'. The woman feared she and the boy would be raped killed and eaten by cannibals if they stayed alve, so she was only speeding up death, but under her own control. McCarthy was either portraying the woman as weak for killing herself and giving up on life and her family, or portraying her as strong. There were only two bullets left in the gun so she took it upon herself to make the decision of who may have to suffer if the time came where they all wanted to die, and she killed herself with obsidian in order for the ma and boy to have a way out in the future. The woman could be seen to be represented as both a savior to the other two protagonists and also as a topic of sadness because she left them behind.. Te boy d the an together are not enough to make her want to stay in the world they are living in. she doesn't belong in this world.

Thematic functions of the woman. 

McCarthy does not always make the themes clear in the novel, however the idea of the woman and there old life always appears in the mans mind and changes the feel of the story. A theme of old and new appears, with the woman and there old life verses the mans son and the desolate world they are now living in.  The theme of good verses evil is relevant, with the woman being the evil source, almost sucking the life and soul out of the man in his dreams until he disregards her picture in the road, and the good of the boy who is almost the mans savior and 'his warrant' although only a child.
Good verses evil is also apparent between the 'good guys' and the 'bad guys'. The man refers to the bad guys are evil beings who they should avoid at all costs, and they are on a journey to find the good guys.
Desolate landscapes and the protagonists being alone in a destructive world is a theme present throughout the novel. McCarthy continuously describes the roads as being bleak and deserted, a sense of loneliness is always lingering over the mans shoulders.
Death is a clear theme, highlighted with the subject of the woman who has died. She appears in his dreams and the boy remembers her and the man asks him 'do you wish you were dead'. It is as if death is fast approaching, and there journey is a never ending struggle to run and hide from deaths evil clasp.
McCarthy is influenced by low budget horror films, such as, 'the hills have eyes' and 'the walking dead',  and the themes and situations the protagonists find themselves in are very similar to that of characters from those movies.
Although this is a bleak and deathly story, the theme of love is hidden under the surface of the protagonists. Even though the man tries extremely hard not to show love or affection towards the boy, he is unable to hate him. And the love that the boy shows the man, is so heartfelt and real, that when the man dies at the end, the reader feels pure emotion for the boy who, although has been taken in by the 'good guys' has now lost both parents. The reader also experiences the love the man had for the woman long ago. The emotions he feels for her, when he describes his bride walking towards him and 'her dress of gauze', we understand why the man is still having dreams of the woman, why he is finding it so hard to let go, the reason is because he did once love her, and she once loved him.

Structural functions

McCarthy's way of writing speech is by using minimalistic use of punctuation and the mans conversations usually consist of short sentence answers. However when the woman is described or speaking, then there is a large section of speech. This contrast between the man and woman's speech brings to light the different worlds in which they belong to, the woman's belonging in the past world and the man in the present post- apocalyptic world. 
The way the woman is described is always from the man's voice, his perspective of the woman, and so therefore we see and feel what he sees and feels when the woman tells him its over. McCarthy never allows the reader to see from the woman's perspective, 'i have taken a new lover in death'.

Symbolic functions

McCarthy describes the post-apocalyptic world as a comparison to death and the darkness, 'your dark and your cold and be dammed', that although they are not dead they are trapped in a never ending liminal space where death is following them and will take them when they fail to reach the end of the road. The dreams he has of the woman are happy memories which give light to his thoughts and for a moment takes him away from the destructive world in which him and the boy are surviving in, symbolizing the light and happy world they had before which the woman was a apart of, compared to the evil one they are in.
The fact that even from when the man notices the clocks have stopped, there is a clear indication of the different characters the man and woman have. The naivety and weakness of the woman compared to the practical attitude of the man, McCarthy may be highlighting the differences between the characters of men and women in general as well as the difference between these two protagonists.
'i have taken death as a lover', is a quote the woman speaks to the man and symbolizes the decay of society and morality that the post-apocalyptic world has made her and the rest of humanity face.