Romance is an intense love that is pure and unconditional. This is shown in the romance novel All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. John Grady, the protagonist in the novel, goes on a quest for self-knowledge and along the way finds his true love, Alejandra. The series of events that follows after finding his love take him through death and sadness. To analyze this book we use Thomas C. Foster’s piece, How to Read Literature like a Professor, which provides us with direct insight on how to examine, understand and respond to a modern piece of fiction. Chapter 12 of Thomas C. Fosters’ piece directly parallels to the symbols weaved throughout Cormac McCarthy’s piece. In Fosters book he tells us that every symbol leads us to an overall understanding
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Blood is one of the most important symbols but not the only. Cormac also uses symbols such as sunsets, water and horses. Yet, the symbol of blood is a recurring and important to the novel. While Alejandra and John Grady are making love, they almost get caught but Grady uses his hand to prevent Alejandra from screaming. In the text it says, “Drawing blood with her teeth where he held the heel of his hand against her mouth that she not cry out” (McCarthy ).Here McCarthy uses blood to symbolize a forbidden affair and shows us the lengths Grady must go to keep his and Alejandra’s relationship a secret. Another place where McCarthy uses blood to symbolize all Grady’s pain is when Grady must fight for survival. When Grady is in prison he must fight for his life against one of Perez’s men. In the text it describes what lengths he must go to protect himself, it says, “From the red boutonniere blossoming on the left pocket of his blue workshirt there spurted a thin fan of bright arterial blood” (McCarthy ).He kills another inmate and is badly hurt in the process. He later regrets and confesses that he murders someone but this just shows how Grady pays for his survival in
Blood is one of the most important symbols but not the only. Cormac also uses symbols such as sunsets, water and horses. Yet, the symbol of blood is a recurring and important to the novel. While Alejandra and John Grady are making love, they almost get caught but Grady uses his hand to prevent Alejandra from screaming. In the text it says, “Drawing blood with her teeth where he held the heel of his hand against her mouth that she not cry out” (McCarthy ).Here McCarthy uses blood to symbolize a forbidden affair and shows us the lengths Grady must go to keep his and Alejandra’s relationship a secret. Another place where McCarthy uses blood to symbolize all Grady’s pain is when Grady must fight for survival. When Grady is in prison he must fight for his life against one of Perez’s men. In the text it describes what lengths he must go to protect himself, it says, “From the red boutonniere blossoming on the left pocket of his blue workshirt there spurted a thin fan of bright arterial blood” (McCarthy ).He kills another inmate and is badly hurt in the process. He later regrets and confesses that he murders someone but this just shows how Grady pays for his survival in