All The Pretty Horses Foreshadowing Analysis

Cormac McCarthy's All The Pretty Horses tells the story of a young man, John Grady Cole, from Texas who realizes that his idealistic vision of a traditional Old West future is being compromised by the modernization of American culture. Grady holds himself to a cowboy code which advocates honestly, loyalty, and ardor above all. While the code is well intentioned it is also overly idealistic and ultimately leads Grady and his travel companion and friend Lacey Rawlins to some misfortunes. McCarthy's story delves into issues of whether events are predetermined or a consequence of choices one makes. While at first Grady handles adversities with stoicism since he believes all is predestined, by the end of the story he accepts that he still has some control over certain aspects of his life. McCarthy conveys these views of fatalism through use of foreshadowing and analogies. The story opens with John Grady Cole attending his grandfather's funeral and learning of his mother's intentions to sell his land. She explains that no one is interested in cattle ranches and it is not a source of a profit, but …show more content…
When Alfonsa and Grady played chess “she used an opening he'd not seen...[and] in the end he lost his queen and conceded” which foreshadows Alfonsa making a move that ends up costing John Grady his real life queen, Alejandra. Likewise when Grady plays billiards with Don Hector, he “beats him easily” which foreshadows Don Hector thwarting Grady's tryst with his daughter by calling the police on him. While these games warn of events to come, they are also metaphors for Don Hector and Duena Alfonsa playing games with Grady and Alejandra's love and