I'd have to say "The man" and his son, "the boy", from Cormac McCarthy's "The Road". For those of you who have never read the book no specific names, dates, or even what caused the end of the world is mentioned.

No matter what these two kept trying and moving forward through countless little triumphs and setbacks. And they stuck together and stood up for each other with a lot of love and compassion. Like the book mentioned in the beginning, each was "the other world's entire".

I tell people every single time when post-apocalyptic/survival fiction is discussed: anyone can write a good or even great post-apocalyptic story. But it takes a brilliant writer, IMHO, to make readers understand there's something more important than the protagonist's stuggle to just stay alive, and that's the struggle to retain one's humanity.

The Road, Lord of the Flies, Alas Babylon, The Old Man and the Sea, Robinson Crusoe, and others - all are earmarks above your standard survival fiction because the characters are people that we can all relate to and have empathy towards. Not only do they have to conquer the elements and the adversities they face, but they have to better themselves by staring into the dark side of human nature. The heroes sometimes have to take an introspective look to do this as well.

The first time I finished "Lord of the Flies" I was just floored. Same with "Crusoe", "The Old Man and the Sea" and "The Road", and that's the reason why. Writers that want to shoot for punching out a brilliant story have just GOT to focus on the human element, and not just a slam-bang survival story.