All The Pretty Horses Analysis

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Recommended: Identity expressed through literature

In reading “All the pretty horses” by Cormac McCarthy, we are introduced to the protagonist John Grady Cole. At the beginning of the story, John Grady is attending his grandfathers funeral in the ranch that he now shares with his mother. John Grady Cole, grew up in world where being a cowboy meant freedom and a ever growing relationship with the one thing he cared about more than anything… horses. The story seems to unravel in the early 1950s when the old west began to evolve to the new ways of the west and the definition of what made a man a cowboy increasingly blurred. As the story evolves, it becomes evident that the selling of his grandfather’s ranch leaves Grady feeling adrift and incomplete. Henceforth, he deicides to set foot on his own and find a new place to call his home. We see that the loss of his grandfathers ranch and the passing of the old west he knew, serves as a reflection of how John Grady’s character attempts to maintain this cowboy lifestyle that he witnessed growing up . John Grady Cole’s character tough young, serves as a hero in his journey of becoming a man. Combined with his passion and idealistic mentality, his love for horses and the open plains of Texas/Mexico sets him off into new adventures. Realizing that each scenario encountered paves the way towards a journey of harsh reality, this story serves as one of growth and the passionate search of the old cowboy life. Grady sets out on a journey to Mexico with his comrade Rawlins riding off into the sun with hopes of finding a new home; they rode in hopes of regaining their sense of beloning.
In “All the Pretty Horses”, the author tries to elaborate on the human psychological cost of living based upon a persons dreams and romantic ideals. Throughout t...

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In reading “All the pretty Horses”, we see how remarkable John Grady’s character truly is. Becoming a man and hero, Grady expresses ongoing faith and romantic ideals against all odds. Even tough Grady broke the cowboy code by leaving his country for another and we can not classify him as your typical “old west” cowboy, we can see an evolving image of the new cowboy ideals he has now seen for himself. Being rejected by his love Alejandra and left behind by his companion Rawlins, Grady is left relatively alone. In route to find a more fulfilling meaning to his life, Grady distanced himself even further from reality in the hopes of getting closer to his dream. Furthermore, I believe that though he was distanced, Grady succeeded in making a new place for himself because though he never really returned to his home he was at peace and happy ridding Blevins old horse.

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