All the Pretty Horses seminars
Question 1: John Grady experienced a number of profoundly significant events in the course of the novel. How do they affect him? What qualities does John Grady develop as he matures during the course of the novel? What role does killing the boy in prison play in his development?
1. John Grady experienced many profound significant events throughout his life in this novel. All of which changed his view on life and the world. In the beginning of the novel John Grady’s grandfather died and with his passing John found out that the family ranch that he had one day hoped to have for himself was left to his mother who was set on selling the ranch. Although John “thought the world of that old man” (p12) he let his dream …show more content…
The role of death in All the Pretty Horses is all about endings. In the death of John Grady’s grandfather it represented the death of the cowboy American dream. Cormac McCarthy states the John Grady “stood like a man come to the end of something” (p3) represents the end of his grandfather’s ranch, the end of a way of life, and the end of the cowboys on horseback. In the death of Abuela it represents the death of the last person really connected to the ranch that wasn’t John or his already deceased grandfather, also her death represented a death in the Spanish part in him since she was the one who taught the language to him and that was really the only way he didn’t really stick out as much in Mexico was because he knew Spanish. I think this is the case because these two significant deaths represent John’s growth as a character in the book and how he has matured and developed as a man. Before grandfather’s death he didn’t know what it was really like to be a cowboy or horse wrangler so while his death somewhat represented his new beginning in life it really represented the ending of an era. Abuela’s death also represented the death of John’s Mexican side, he realized he didn’t really fit in down in Mexico and also the final loss of connection to his grandfather’s ranch of that way of
Question 1: John Grady experienced a number of profoundly significant events in the course of the novel. How do they affect him? What qualities does John Grady develop as he matures during the course of the novel? What role does killing the boy in prison play in his development?
1. John Grady experienced many profound significant events throughout his life in this novel. All of which changed his view on life and the world. In the beginning of the novel John Grady’s grandfather died and with his passing John found out that the family ranch that he had one day hoped to have for himself was left to his mother who was set on selling the ranch. Although John “thought the world of that old man” (p12) he let his dream …show more content…
The role of death in All the Pretty Horses is all about endings. In the death of John Grady’s grandfather it represented the death of the cowboy American dream. Cormac McCarthy states the John Grady “stood like a man come to the end of something” (p3) represents the end of his grandfather’s ranch, the end of a way of life, and the end of the cowboys on horseback. In the death of Abuela it represents the death of the last person really connected to the ranch that wasn’t John or his already deceased grandfather, also her death represented a death in the Spanish part in him since she was the one who taught the language to him and that was really the only way he didn’t really stick out as much in Mexico was because he knew Spanish. I think this is the case because these two significant deaths represent John’s growth as a character in the book and how he has matured and developed as a man. Before grandfather’s death he didn’t know what it was really like to be a cowboy or horse wrangler so while his death somewhat represented his new beginning in life it really represented the ending of an era. Abuela’s death also represented the death of John’s Mexican side, he realized he didn’t really fit in down in Mexico and also the final loss of connection to his grandfather’s ranch of that way of