Devin Gohel
Mr. Call
English II, Period 6
13 May 2014
In literary works, motifs help to convey symbolic significance in order to develop themes and the central message the author is attempting to portray. In All The Pretty Horses, McCarthy focuses specifically on horses and blood in relation to the main character’s overall development. Though John’s love for his horses never falters throughout his many trials, John’s transformation from a young boy to a mature adult is demonstrated by the expansion of that love and the dynamic motif of blood.
As a young adult, John’s love for horses and the description of blood are portrayed through his immature perspective. The color red is used frequently throughout the novel to represent blood and the theme of death and violence. The narrator explains how “the wind was much abated and it was very cold and the sun sat blood red and elliptic under the reefs of bloodred cloud before him” by using blood as a metaphorical example of how both nature and the life of humans are intertwined in the concept of death and violence. Also, John Grady uses the motif of blood as violence and death, the opposite of how he sees it in his future. Mundik looks at blood as “descriptions of the natural landscape [which] not only suggests that bloodshed and suffering is an inherent part of existence but also serves to reinforce the constant presence of death and the “transitory and violent” nature of human life. John Grady Cole would look at scenery and think of blood red; he would not look at blood as the energy force behind all beings. Due to his blood-painted childhood of abandonment and divorce, his perspective is tainted by negativity. Cormac McCarthy has John Grady Cole’s view of blood as metaphors as...
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...ding on life and relationships, and can realize the complexity of his passions in life both with horses and Alejandra.
John Grady’s transformation from a broken family as well as abandoned by his father was unexpected. Growing up around friends who were also abandoned and no mentor or role model made his transition difficult. His love and passion for horses is strong as it was one of the few family traditions he held onto his entire life. His views on emotions and depth of relationships changed once he met Alejandra. In addition, his view on blood as a metaphorical description, to the true life force of all beings is another lesson he learned during his transformation into a young adult. In All The Pretty Horses, McCarthy uses both motifs to spread his theme throughout the novel and portray John Grady’s metamorphosis dramatically from the beginning to the end.
For instance the first chunk of the passage Richard Matheson operates a series of rhetorical devices to emphasize Robert Neville’s feelings such as , visual imagery and simile in line 1-3 from (He-Eyes) and more visual imagery on lines 4-5 (Robert-arm).Richard Matheson employs simile and visual imagery in a discrete manner and emphasizes that man’s skin to that “clammy turkey skin” and the visual imagery “red-splotched checks, the feverish eyes, “to highlight that Robert Neville is scared of the
All the Pretty Horses involves many interesting characters in its story. Most of the characters are believable in this story. Many are flat and static with a few being round and dynamic. The characters are complex, with their own histories and personalities driving their actions. There are many minor characters in the story that do not really have any purpose than helping to move the plot along. There aren’t many characters with considerable roles. The protagonist is John Grady Cole and the antagonists are the captain, Jimmy Blevins, and Alejandra’s aunt. The main character is John Grady Cole, a round and dynamic character. He is revealed in the beginning of the story. He is a 16 year old boy and can be described as quiet, serious,
He is expressing his opinion to his audience in the hopes that they will recognize this and try to change how the world is; Cormac McCarthy is hoping that someone will decide that they need to become more just, and thus begin to bring justice back into the world. Throughout the novel Cormac McCarthy is expressing his idea that justice no longer exists, which he views as a problem, through having John Grady search for justice yet never find it. Not only are we presented with the issue at hand but we are also presented with the solution; be a just person and bring back the justice that is lacking in the world today. He shows us this solution when he has John Grady search for the true owner of Blevins horse even though the judge has labelled the horse as
Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses, is an incredulous story with no happy ending, where no one attains what they were attempting to achieve in the end. The story begins with a flat tone, but eventually grows to be suspenseful .[It] is set in a world of comparative [regularity], which is not to say it is any less dominated by evil ,any more controlled by rationality , logic or a divine purpose, than that of its predecessors.”(McCarthy) John and Rawlins are seventeen year olds, who have left their hometown to seek a better life,but what John doesn't know is that things will only turn for the worse. Both individuals come across a boy named Blevins ,who will be a very important character throughout the novel. As the story progresses, John will be faced with many poisonous encounters . John will face evil and evil will face him in the wake of the resurfacing of the heinous crimes that Blevins has committed, which leads them to being arrested and tortured atrociously. From having everything he will go to having nothing. Nothing.. This was
... red blood and white coat again suggests violence, but also hints at Morgan's main theme of today's brutal and vicious culture. His matter of fact tone also helps to convey his message that people are often unwilling to help each other. MacCaig's message is similar to this, but he conveys it by looking at a dwarf, who is ignored by tourists when he begs them for money. MacCaig cleverly uses irony throughout the poem, in the contrast between the dwarf and the church. His voice is also apparent throughout `Assisi,' as he comments on the hypocrisy and double standards of the tourists, as they are willing to learn about pictures of suffering, but unwilling to give money to a deformed dwarf. Conclusively, by examining both Edwin Morgan's and Norman MacCaig's `voice' through their style and tone, their `vision' of a cruel and uncaring society is revealed and developed.
The times are changing and he's unwilling to give up the past. The world is becoming modernized and people like him, cowboys and ranchers, are slowly disappearing. He runs away from home because he desires to find peace within himself as well as a place where he can feel he belongs. Here begins the adventure of John Grady and his best friend Lacey Rawlins. It is important to note here the means of travel. The story is taking place after World War II, a time when cars are fairly common, yet these boys decide to go on horseback, like in the fading old days. This is just another concept of how they are unwilling to give up a fading past. When they first begin their journey, the boys are having a good time. In a sense they?re two buddies on a road trip with no real motive. Rawlins even mentions, ?You know what?I could get used to this life.? Then they meet Blevins, the foil in the plot that veers the two boys of their course and also has plays a role in the lasting change of their personality. Their meeting with him gives an insight into Grady?s character. Rawlins is against letting Blevins come along with them, but because of John?s kind nature he ends up allowing Blevins to come. It?s because of this kindness and sense of morality, he gets into trouble later on.
Throughout the book, Robert develops a bond with the animals as he lacks connections with the everyday people in his life. Robert’s natural instinct to save but failure to do so is portrayed with horses: “I’m going to break ranks and save ...
At the beginning of the story Horses of the Night, Chris, who lives at Shallow Creek with a poor living condition, is introduced as a distant cousin of the narrator Vanessa. Since there is no high schools at Shallow Creek and as Chris’s dream of becoming a civil engineer, these two facts push him to seek for new opportunities in Manawaka. Though he is still undertaking various inconveniences and hopelessness while he studies in Manawaka, such as Grandfather Connor’s disdain sights toward him and lacking of financial support, he acts indifferently to respond to Grandfather Connor’s attitudes and speaks out his “great expectations” with assurance, as if his future of
Depression has a major effect on a person life. The accumulation of hidden emotion could cause difficulty in life. The consequences could be irrational thinking, suffering in ceased emotion or lead to a total disaster. In “Horses of the night” by Margaret Laurence and “ Paul’s case” by Willa Cather, both authors introduce the concept of depression. Although both selections offer interesting differences, it is the similarities that are significant.
This can be perceived in the names of her characters, the sky, and even the weather. Jennifer Bouchard explains O’Connor’s hidden meaning behind the antagonist’s given name, “The aptly named character of The Misfit serves as a symbol both of evil as well as a symbol of the villain’s inability to fit into society.” (82) Flannery articulates how symbolism is used within her stories stating “You might say that these are details that, while having their essential place in the literal level of the story, operate in depth as well as on the surface, increasing the story in every direction.” (334) Understanding the elements within a story not only has superficial meanings, but hidden implications as well expand the reader’s knowledge and enjoyment. “O’Connor includes several symbols in A Good Man Is Hard to Find. For example, skies and weather are always symbolic to O’Connor, and she often uses such descriptions to reveal a character’s state of mind.” (103) To represent this technique take this excerpt from the story, “…the grandmother who half sat and half lay in a puddle of blood with her legs crossed under her like a child’s and her face smiling up at a cloudless sky.” (309) Upon first glance we might miss the true meaning in this passage, which is the grandmothers receiving of salvation and happiness in her final moment. O’Connor’s use of symbolism causes the reader to dig deeper into a story, so be mindful of
Though Cormac McCarthy’s All The Pretty Horses and William Faulkner’s The Unvanquished are completely different, their style and plot techniques share more similarities than differences. All The Pretty Horses and The Unvanquished both depict the importance of honor in a persons life, whether it be honor through vengeance, honoring family, or honoring the tradition of woman, these two novels teach that honor can create a stronger person.
Many authors are recognized by a reoccurring theme found throughout their works. The author D.H. Lawrence can be classified into this group. He is well known for his reoccurring theme that romantic love is psychologically redeeming. He wrote “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter” , a short story that exemplifies this theme quite accurately, in 1922 (Sagar 12). Through excellent use of symbolism in “The Horse Dealer’s Daughter”, Lawrence renders his theme of romantic love being psychologically redeeming through the emotional development of the two main characters, Mabel and Dr. Fergusson.
Red this color can symbolize blood, passion or danger. Irony is another technique used in the story to give it a better understanding. Irony is said in a sarcasm way, twisting the actual meaning. It is the opposite of what is intended. Saying the same thing but with a different idea/meaning behind it. For example it’s very funny when people go to McDonalds and order Big Mac, extra large fires, and a diet coke. Another example is when someone states “ oh great!” now you broke your arm, there is nothing great in breaking an arm.
Contrary to the story’s focus on horses, the movie focuses on the romance between John Grady and Alejandra as its poster has the couple with a greater presence compared to the miniscule graphic of horses shoved on the bottom; whereas the book’s cover is graced with the image of a horse and only of that horse. Of all the events that were absent from the movie, the romance scenes are the most kept intact as well as an odd addition of an onlooker dancing when John Grady finishes talking with Alejandra on the phone after being bailed out of jail. In fact, it feels like horses are more of an afterthought in this adaptation because John Grady does not put any emphasis on them as he does in the novel. While in jail, John Grady had a dream about horses, “… in the dream he was among the horses running and in the dream he himself could run with the horses …” (McCarthy 161) In the fashion of flickering images for a subliminal message, brief, flashing visions of Alejandra are injected into this dream when there were none. Romance is pushed as the main focus of the story, but it fails to make the couple fulfilling since the dynamic between John Grady and Alejandra is not developed well enough to make it
Hester, Paul’s rocking horse and the whispering of the house represent greed, selfishness, and love. They also reveal the character’s real feelings and thoughts of neglect, detachment, greed and selfishness. These symbols convey a theme and make the characters in the short story. The Rocking-Horse Winner is a tragic story where Paul dies trying to gain his mother’s love and compassion. The mother was just interested in the money he was winning in the derbies. The story conveys a major them of materialism and shapes the characters through the symbols.