The ending of Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses, can best be described as a bitter sweet ending. John Grady, the protagonist of the novel, escapes death in Mexico, but is last seen alone trying to find his place in the world. Despite the events that occurred, John has a moment of moral reconciliation, which better helps him accept his fate. This moral reconciliation not only contributes to the bitter sweet ending, but also enhances the novel altogether. John Grady Cole cannot help but blame himself for the events that transpired in Mexico. The death of Blevins, the loss of his lover Alejandra, and the death of the prison inmates at his own hands rested heavily on his heart. He was mortified by the fact that he “almost done it again” (McCarthy 292), and cannot comprehend why the judge in Texas was so willing to put the ruling his favor. He was not on …show more content…
trial for the crimes he committed in Mexico, but internally he believed he should be punished. Although there was nothing he could have done he blames himself for the death of Blevins as he “never said nothing” (McCarthy 293), to prevent the police form executing him. The moment of moral reconciliation occurred when John visited the Judge a second time, at his home. The conversation between John Grady and the Judge helped answer the underlying question of the novel “what does a man do?” (McCarthy 181), by the end of the conversation it is clear, a man does what is right.
It also provides John with closure that helps him come to a moral reconciliation. In a sense the judge is a priest giving John, who is the sinner, absolution. The Judge comes to the conclusion that John is “somebody that maybe tends to be a little hard on theirselves” (McCarthy 291), and that he must put the past behind him. He reassures John that his actions were justified as he had the right intent. John did not have to reclaim and return the horses to their rightful owners. Whether it was out of guilt or a sense of duty John chose to do the right thing. John, much like the judge, saw injustice in the world and decided to take a stand against it. The judge never wanted to become a judge, and John never wanted to be a vigilante, but in the face of adversity they both did what was morally right. This conversation enabled John to put the past behind him, and allowed him to set out to find his own
country. The bitter sweet ending of All the Pretty Horses, perfectly encapsulates the work as a whole. It continues the gritty theme of the novel, and reveals the truth that in life there are not always happy endings. John Grady comes to the realization that he cannot change the past and he must put it behind him, and that the path he chose was the right one. The ending of this story leaves the reader with questions, that they can only hope will be answered in the novels that follow.
Many war stories today have happy, romantic, and cliche ending; many authors skip the sad, groosom, and realistic part of the story. W. D. Howell’s story, Editha and Ambrose Bierce’s story, An Occurence at Owl Creek Bridge both undercut the romantic plots and unrealistic conclusions brought on by many stories today. Both stories start out leading the reader to believe it is just another tpyical love-war senario, but what makes them different is the one-hundred and eighty degrees plot twist at the end of each story.
John Grady views justice as a portion of a human's moral code; in order to be a person with a truly moral code you would need to be a just person. He views it as good things happen to good people. John Grady never grew up around people that held on to justice as part of their moral code; his own mother was only subjecting herself to tasks that would benefit her and only her. John wanted his life to mirror that of the cowboys who in his eyes were very just people. They held on to justice as part of their morals. John never received the justice that was due him. We can see examples of this throughout the novel the first was with his
The author skillfully uses literary techniques to convey his purpose of giving life to a man on an extraordinary path that led to his eventual demise and truthfully telling the somber story of Christopher McCandless. Krakauer enhances the story by using irony to establish Chris’s unique personality. The author also uses Characterization the give details about Chris’s lifestyle and his choices that affect his journey. Another literary element Krakauer uses is theme. The many themes in the story attract a diverse audience. Krakauer’s telling is world famous for being the truest, and most heart-felt account of Christopher McCandless’s life. The use of literary techniques including irony, characterization and theme help convey the authors purpose and enhance Into The Wild.
John is a loving husband. He proves that by telling Elizabeth, “It is well seasoned” (p. 48) in reference to the rabbit she cooked, in which he had to add salt to. He likes to make her happy, which shows he loves her, and so he asks, “Would that please you?” (p.48) He is asking in reference to buying a heifer for her if the crops are good. He assures her he will “fall like an ocean on that court” by which he shows his love in caring for her freedom (p.73). To the court he admits he has “known her” he is talking about Abigail and their affair (p.102). He is showing his love towards his wife by throwing away his freedom, life, honor, dignity, and pride to prove Elizabeth’s innocence and have her freedom. He tells Elizabeth to “show honor now” as he is to be hanged in the gallows (p. 133). He is showing his love for her by letting her know he cares about her enough to want her to be strong even though he is to die.
When John Grady meets Alejandra, he sets himself up for a situation that provokes conflict. This doesn’t seem to bother him, since John Grady is not content to live a life without risk. If anything, it may be that John Grady falls in love with Alejandra because of the potential conflict with her father, the powerful Don Hector. He finds conflict more appealing than harmony because it conforms to his ideal of the dangerous West. When John Grady tells his friend, Rawlins, about his first meeting with Alejandra, the author use...
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.
When individuals face obstacles in life, there is often two ways to respond to those hardships: some people choose to escape from the reality and live in an illusive world. Others choose to fight against the adversities and find a solution to solve the problems. These two ways may lead the individuals to a whole new perception. Those people who decide to escape may find themselves trapped into a worse or even disastrous situation and eventually lose all of their perceptions and hops to the world, and those who choose to fight against the obstacles may find themselves a good solution to the tragic world and turn their hopelessness into hopes. Margaret Laurence in her short story Horses of the Night discusses the idea of how individual’s responses
The author wrote this story in response to a magazine company, and eventually published it into a book. He used many styles and techniques to describe the life and death of McCandless. The mood throughout the novel constantly varies with the excitement of McCandless’s adventures and the emotions caused by his disappearance. Krakauer’s ability to engage multiple senses of a reader truly makes his novel special.
In ‘horse,’ the speaker describes a horse being betrayed and then killed in a small town in Texas. The first two stanzas described the horse thundering towards outstretched hands being attracted to a field of corn but instead it is attacked by a group of white teenage boys who leave it mutilated. The sheriff of the town does not do anything because he believes that it is in their nature to do so. In the last stanzas the Mexican owner puts the horse out of his misery and someone tries to pay him for the damage. His people are disappointed because they believe that money could not make up for the death of the horse but, they do nothing about it. It would seem the horse in the poem is meant to represent the Mexican culture and how it is being eradicated by the dominant white society in the United States.
The story All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy guides readers from central United States to territories of Mexico. Throughout John Grady’s growth, from young and confused child to a mature, wise adult. In the process, the readers see major conflict McCarthy presents, which is John Grady’s response to justice or injustice in a corrupt society around him. Though John Grady’s surroundings are corrupt in All the Pretty Horses and he faces disappointments, he trusts in the fact that good will triumph over evil will make him able to maintain his moral in corrupt society, but only through limited scope of his conflicts not on scope of other characters.
The adult life is something that John Grady Cole would most certainly believe to be like scraping a cheese grater against his head for the entire day. John Grady is a wandering cowboy, never looking to end his adventurous life and settle for a nine-to-five. Summing up one of his final adventures, John Grady said, “That it was good that God kept the truths of life from the young as they were starting out or else they’d have no heart to start at all”(pg. 284). Before leaving his family ranch, John Grady only saw the dream of the perfect ranch in Mexico, and did not consider any obstacles that would prevent him from arriving there. As such, John Grady lived the true cowboy life and fell in love with the beauty on horseback, yet their relationship
The magistrate that sits in your heart judges you.” This is where Elizabeth suspects that John has committed adultery, but knows how good of man he is and tries to look over it. “Adultery, John.” This is where John tells her and she makes it sound like it is news to her even though she has known for awhile. She is trying to have John have a “good” name and not be a name that everyone discards. “No, sir.” Here she is protecting his name but she doesn’t know that John has just came out and said that he committed lechery. She thought that she was saving him but she was actually making it worse for him.“I mean to crush him utterly if he has shown his face.” Here he is talking about if he ever encountered the Devil that he would literally kick his ass.
“All the Pretty Horses”, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy tells the tale about a man and his friend travelling the plains of Mexico after leaving their homes in Texas. As the novel’s name alludes to, horses are a central theme in the story as they represent manhood and freedom when John Grady, the protagonist, and his friend Rawlins get thrown in jail. McCarthy’s novel became critically-acclaimed which gained him more recognition, as well as a movie adaptation directed by Billy Bob Thornton. Even though Thornton’s adaption has the basics of the novel’s story it does not appropriately grasps its depth. While Thornton’s version stays faithful to the dialogue from the book’s included scenes it does fall short by having an erratic pace, having
After many long days in jail, as his execution date approaches, John finally confesses to witchcraft in an attempt to save his own life. The judge of the court, Danforth, insists that his signed confession be hung on the door to the church. Due to the fact that lying goes against John’s religious beliefs, he fears that in signing to a falsely fabricated confession he will actually suffer more than if he is hanged. He is also a firm believer in keeping his name clean and wishes not to ruin his name. In this situation John perceives that it is important to stay true to your heart and to your beliefs. He wants to remain a good man:
John Grady Cole is a sixteen-year-old southern boy from Texas who is trying to live his life as a cowboy while following in his great grandfather’s footsteps. Saving his grandfather’s ranch, where he’s lived the entirety of his life, is no longer an option; instead he chooses to flee from the United States towards Mexico in order to the live out the western lifestyle that he wants.