All the pretty horse’s story by (McCarthy., 1993) brings out the tale of events in the growth and adventure of the male child. Every growing male child in different societies undergoes cultural transitions which have been in place for ages. This story stems from West Texas, whereby John Grandy Cole and his good friend Lacey Williams set off towards Mexico, and the adventure in their lives kicks off as cowboys. They struggle like just any village hood boy to find their footing. John Grand falls in love and is later taken to prison with his best friend. During these struggles, different themes can be extracted. They include the theme of love, innocence, loyalty, and violence. In this story, the concept of horses is used to symbolize their manhood and the lessons learned from the experience. Horses have been seen in some parts of the world as a symbol of wealth and strength; therefore, they are considered sacred to the inhabiting natives. However, in other cases, horses are seen as mere means of transportation or an accessory used on the battlefield. In this story, horses symbolize the fallen spirit in nature, and John Grandy’s love of horses means his love of human beings. As horses are durable, one can reckon that humans are also durable. In as much as John Grandy’s love for horses meant love for a human, it did not mean that he was satisfied with his human life; that is why he set out to go on his excursion to Mexico with his good friend in his desire to work with the wild horses and search his real being in the world (Jennifer., 2020) This search reflects a clear likening between the fallen and spiritual and mundane. Dreams also symbolize this story. John Grandy’s dreams seem far from reality, and because they are unreal, they paralyze his reality.
Nevertheless, he is much motivated to journey to Mexico. These dreams depict different characters, John, from being a teenager, a lover, a prisoner, and a man. The human world is beautiful and pretty, as are wild horses. In this breath, this story conceptualizes death, gender, loss of innocence, and violence.
One central concept the story tries to pass to the reader is the deception of violence. The explanation shows much brutal violence, often gunfire and blood. The story depicts much violence, which seems to be justified in many cases. The novel brings out the notion that violence is a way of life for many cowboys and that it helps develop and thickens the plot and proves to the reader that, in various ways, John Grand is a stereotypical cowboy(Shengzhong., 2021). Upon the arrest of John Brady and his best friend, they were taken to prison, where they found Blevins. He was nursing wounds that he had inflicted after murdering and after going back to Encantada to retrieve his pistol. Violence is depicted in this narration as Belvins seems to care more about his pistol than the live horses. This was a big sign of violence and was used to cause violence among the boys. Later on, the prison wardens had to transfer all of them, and midway, Belvins was pushed by the roadside and executed. This points to Blevins’s life being clouded with violence because his life ended on the same footing. This narrative points to how people can be imperfect and how this is not far from the ordinary.
John (1998) acknowledges that the novel brings out the concept of gender. Many countries have advocated for gender balance, and this story points to the same. In All the Pretty Horses, men and women are viewed differently. The characters involved in this narration are all boys who are very young but have much independence, experience, and skill in violence, which is much anticipated in today’s societies. On the other side, women and girls constantly strive for independence, but they are often caught in between by social forces, which are often beyond their control. In the novel, women are shown as powerless and the stay-at-home woman. Alejandra, who had developed a relationship with John Brady, concluded that no matter how much one tries, it is not always easy to fight social notations about gender. She has always had to adhere to many norms regarding chastity that often do not apply to men. She was not always free to chart her path, which is why her relationship with Grady did not flourish due to interference from her aunt. Despite her persistent effort to break off this chain role, she is always pulled back due to the relationship she enjoys with her father. Men were favored as they could lose their honor and regain it, but this was not extended to Alejandra, a woman. This explanation can be equated to today’s society, where to this day, women are still faced with gender inequality often. (McCarty., 1993) shows a comparison of how the cowboy life can be so similar to our reality even when speaking to gender norms.
The novel majors part of it, the loss of innocence. The three central characters in this story, Grady, Rawlins, and Blevins, went out to the world while very young and with little experience. John Grady, who was barely sixteen years of age, went out to the world with little knowledge and, as a result, lost his innocence due to the experiences he had to face. During his stay in Mexico, Grady had to use most of the skills he had acquired to complete his day-to-day jobs as a cowboy. Due to his hard work and expertise, Grady gained the respect of the branch manager, Hacendado, which was a significant breakthrough for him. This experience helps him with his best friend, Rawlins, to survive in Mexico. He had to learn how to vent for himself at an early age—the crazy and severe events that both experiences throughout their journey take a toll on their innocence. For instance, after killing a man in prison, Grady had to take much time to process the same. He could not believe that he had done such a gruesome act, even if it was self-defense. In the process, he had to take cigarettes to cool off his memory. Even though Grady had many skills, his lack of experience could not be hidden due to his young age. In this clouding, Grady shows up at Texas Judge’s house to ask for advice regarding his new experiences, realities, and choices. In these scenarios, the reader can see that expertise in specific know-how does not translate to wisdom retrieved from life which is true to today’s reality.
Furthermore, the novel exemplifies death. At the begging of the narration, we can see that Grady’s grandfather dies, which takes a significant toll on him. Later, Grady also went through the loss of Blevins, whom police wardens killed. On this happening, Grady faces an uphill task trying to shrug off these losses. The most painful death which affected Grady’s mental health was that of, Cuchilllero in prison because he was the one who made the killing. Grady confesses to the judge being guilty of the murder, and that is what makes it even more poorly. These deaths point out day-to-day happenings in our societies where everybody loses his or her loved ones at one time. (McCarthy.1993) speaks to this reality by facing Grady with many death realities throughout the novel. These realities create a connection with the reader just as they did with Grady. John Grady challenges the myth of a cowboy because it shows the reader that even though he is a cowboy, he still faces challenging life events.
In conclusion, the misunderstanding of a cowboy is indeed much more than explained above. In the novel, McCarthy expounds and proves that the existing misunderstanding is much more in-depth, with more insights into the same. The narrative draws on significant areas of significance in the sense that human ideals are not far away from that of a Cowboy and that humans cannot exist ideally. The writer gets a strong message that human beings make mistakes, and the explanation of the loss of innocence, death, gender, and depiction of violence are a presentation to the reader to understand the whole idea. The novel points out the reality that life will never be perfect, and we all need to accept that realism.
Works Cited
McCarthy, Cormac. “All the Pretty Horses. 1992.” New York: Vintage (1993).
Wegner, John. “Whose Story Is It?: History and Fiction in Cormac McCarthy’s” All the Pretty Horses.” Southern Quarterly 36.2 (1998): 103.
Shengzhong, Sun. “The Challenge and Deconstruction of Turner’s “Frontier Thesis” in McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses.” Foreign Literature Studies 43.6 (2021): 128.
Wang, Jennifer. “Literary Landscapes: A Future for Post-Frontier Regionalism in Literature of the American West.” (2020).
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