Examples Of Alienation In All The Pretty Horses

In All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, the main protagonist, John Grady Cole, exiles himself to Mexico when his known and beloved way of life is threatened. This experience to him is both alienating and enriching. He gets to where he is going only to have everything he has worked for taken from his hands. He is left alone and sad, but full of new insights about the world around him. John’s relationship with and the death of Jimmy Blevins, his love for Alejandra and her abandoning him, and his lost position at the hacienda ranch are three main events that leave John alienated, but enriched with worldly ideas and understandings he would take to the grave. Jimmy Blevins, fatally shot, provided John with intuition about the importance …show more content…
She was the character that did the most damage to him mentally, though it was not entirely her fault and intentional. His love for her was great, and her feelings were of the same extent. Her values and culture are what kept them apart. Dueña Alfonsa explained the importance of Alejandra’s reputation, which was not to be hindered by her and John’s relationship. Without her, John was left with a hole in his heart. He did however, learn a lot from their love affair. He gained knowledge on the complexity of love, but also of how wonderful it could be. That information will definitely have a lasting impact on him and influence his choices in the future. McCarthy was displaying the power a relationship has over a person by making Alejandra so hard to lose. Readers could relate to this part of the plot, since many people experience heartbreak from a relationship at least once in their life. McCarthy wanted to exhibit how love does not have to be the most important thing. John can still live out his life and be happy without her, though it may take time. It would also take time to find a work that would make him as happy as the hacienda ranch