Preview

This is aboout analysis on All the pretty Horses, the significance of the title itself

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1916 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
This is aboout analysis on All the pretty Horses, the significance of the title itself
The title of Cormac McCarthy's novel - All the Pretty Horses, reflects the significance and variance of roles that horses play in this coming-of-age story, as they relate to John Grady Cole who is the focus of the novel. The horse, which was the social foundation of Western American culture then, is described as an economical and practical asset to the boys - John Grady and Lacey Rawlins. However, the author also describes horses' abstract qualities using idyllic and impassioned diction, depicting them as animals of a highly advanced spiritual nature, similar to humans in some ways. John Grady has an intimate relationship with all horses and understands the world of horses extraordinarily well. On his journey from Texas to Mexico, he learns that the world of men is very different from that of horses and is forced to rethink about the relationship between humans and horses. John discovers that his preconceived notions about men and human society are false. He finds that they do not live in a romantic world, as he had believed. Therefore, the title that McCarthy has chosen is ironic and symbolizes the change that John experiences. The author uses the title to represent John's initial perspective on the world, which turns out to be the opposite later on.

John's life, like all of Western American society during the timeframe of the story, revolved around horses. In fact, I think that he is able to understand the horses more than he does about men. The horses in the novel represent strength, untamed passion, and most importantly, freedom of spirit. The veneration that the vaqueros have for horses is apparent in the tales Luis tells the boys. "... the old man only said that it was pointless to speak of there being no horses in the world for God would not permit such a thing" (111). I feel that this quote demonstrates to the readers very well on the strong feelings of passion of the vaqueros, cattle-ranchers, that they value horses so highly that they are able to regard

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Redness and blood is often connected to religious imagery. In All The Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, the spirituality of blood connects man with the landscape, horse, history, and his destiny. Thomas C. Foster’s How to read Literature Like a Professor makes reference to the bible in chapter 6. The Bible states that wine is often symbolized for the blood of Christ and is thought to be a spiritual cleanser. At the end of Part III, after John Grady had lost a lot of blood while staying in Saltillo Prison, he continues his journey back to Don Hector’s ranch after being spiritually cleansed. Chapter one sets the scene of the main character, John Grady Cole, attending his grandfather's funeral. In the evening, Grady notices that “the sun sat…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    All the Pretty Horses is the first volume of The Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy and it is a tale about two cowboys who decide to leave their hometown in search of a new life in Mexico. The two young men, John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins, are close friends that live in San Angelo, Texas; they decide to travel south on horseback.…

    • 63 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cormac McCarthy gives his story All the Pretty Horses an unique organization. The book only has four chapters within, yet each chapter is lengthy. There are also very few flashbacks in this story. This flashback was needed, however, to show how things did not change after John Grady Cole’s grandfather died. “On the wall opposite above the sideboard was an oilpainting of horses. . . . his grandfather looked up from his plate at the painting,” shows the painting being there while his grandfather was alive and is stirs up John Grady’s memory of it. There was also one dream sequence in the novel. “That night he dreamt of horses in a field on a high plain . . . they ran in that resonance which is the world itself and which cannot be spoken but only praised,” implies how the horses are wild and…

    • 566 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Dagoberto Gilb Love

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Most of the story’s realism stems from its stereotypical characters. Very rarely does one actually come across a handsome, well-mannered man on a white horse. Instead, one often finds a dishonest, self-absorbed, unemployed playboy. A prime example of this type of man is the main character in the story, Jake. Gilb provides numerous examples throughout the story to illustrate Jake’s character.…

    • 1297 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Horses of the Night Notes

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages

    "Two riding horses" & "He missed the horses..."  any significance/reference to title of story…

    • 834 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Cormac McCarthy shows how important horses can be to a cowboy in his great western classic All The Pretty Horses. Horses were once the backbone of American civilization, in an era before trains, cars, and airplanes. They were especially prominent in the mythic cowboy culture of the west. On a long ride a horse would serve a cowboy as transportation, and not to mention companionship in a solitary environment. A story of change, John Grady Cole, the protagonist, and his friend Lacy Rawlins embark on an adventure to find the cowboy lifestyle they want to live in Mexico. John Grady Cole exhibits an amazing gift that allows him to communicate with horses better then most other people. This ability and his respect for the animals quickly gains him respect among the “vaqueros” or Mexican cowboys. Throughout the novel, he learns that what he thinks of men and about his romantic idea of living in the world is completely false and wrong, and that horses are the only pure things he has left. Therefore, McCarthy’s title shows how life can change, and sometimes it is both cruel and ironic. It shows how much one person’s perspective can change due to the experiences they face. All The Pretty Horses makes you think that it’s a soft story, while upon reading a realizations is reached that is not about how horses are pretty but how evil men can be.…

    • 916 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, there is a continuous comparison between Janie and mules. Throughout Janie’s life, she has been viewed as a domesticated animal and treated like one. The author uses a motif of a mule to show the roles that Janie played in each of her relationships and how despite her struggles, she is eventually able to break free of her mule status.…

    • 579 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Throughout the novel, the speaker uses many animal metaphors to convey a deeper meaning. The metaphor of women as mules is an overarching metaphor which spans itself throughout the entire novel. It is used to underline the expected submissiveness of women and also the disparity between men’s perception of women and what women are actually like. Although Janie herself is regarded as an independent and stubborn, she still allows herself to fall prey to the social conventions around…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    All the pretty horses

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The novel All the Pretty Horses begins with the death of John Grady’s grandfather, and his mother’s subsequent decision to sell their Texas ranch. With nothing left for him in Texas, John Grady and his best friend Rawlins decide to head west to Texas and become cowboys. Along the way they meet a 13-year-old, Jimmy Blevins, who is traveling by himself with a majestic horse, which he later loses in a lightning storm. The trio eventually comes across Blevins horse in a small town and Blevins steals the horse back, however he wakes the entire town in the process. Running for their lives, Blevins splits up with John Grady and Rawlins as he has the faster horse. John Grady and Rawlins escape and continue to travel south, where they find work as cowboys on the vast ranch owned by Don Hector. John Grady quickly proves himself a remarkable cowboy with an intuitive understanding of horses.…

    • 1191 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The purpose of this metaphor is to show the reader that Dysart has become trapped by his education and knowledge of the world. This gives us insight to Dysart’s characters because the reader can see his struggle with life and his job after this case. When Dysart compares himself to the horse’s head the reader can see how Dysart’s job is in control of him when it should be the other way around.…

    • 2139 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    We all know that one guy who knows a ton about horses, the guy who completely understands horses, Billy Buck is that kind of person. The novel, The Red Pony, written by John Steinbeck portrays this character. In the novel, a family, the Tiflins, own a ranch. Billy Buck is their ranch hand. Billy is built small, strong, and friendly. Billy Buck is very smart when it comes to horses, in fact, he seems to know every little thing about them.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Analyzing Maya's Bad Girls

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The horse can be imagined as a woman who is controlled by the men. In one part, he was unable to control the horse what can be seen as the men’s inability to control…

    • 1091 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Horse and His Boy

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages

    This thrilling chapter in the Narnie series is suspensful, adventurous, and exciting and it teaches one the importance of courage and faith in one's self. In The Horse and His Boy, a young boy by the name of Shasta runs away from the life he once lived. His whole life he was a Calormene slave to a man named Arsheesh, whom he called his father. Shasta flees from his captivity when he overhears Arsheesh plotting to sell him to a slave trader. In order to escape, Shasta needs a horse, so he goes to the stable where the slave trader's horse is tied up. Upon stealing the horse, he discovered that this horse in no ordinary horse, but rather a talking horse named Bree. They waited until the men went to bed, and then they made their escape. As they were traveling, they were chased by a lion. As they were running from the lion, they ran into another horse and rider, who they later find out to be a young girl named Aravis, who is also running away, and her talking horse, Hwin. She was running away because she was betrothed to a rich, old man whom she did not love. The four travelers decide to team up and continue their journey together. They travel for a while and then they come upon a the city of Tashbaan. As they venture through the city, Shasta is mistaken for a runaway prince named Corin and is taken captive by the Narnian…

    • 842 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The horse could have had a spotlight aimed at him directly while lying on the ground the size of a twig, but not in this case. Although the horse is still in the middle of the picture, the way it is detailed is so simple, yet it shows a whole lot. Who could have ever thought that just an image of a horse getting his good life back would be so conveying. The horse’s fur was the first thing that caught my eye in this picture, it looks so real and vivid hanging of its body while he is standing facing the colorful paradise while leaving his old life in the dull section. The way the foreground is set to be dark, lonely and just dirt no grass I think is a great idea because they are trying to represent death and to me that would remind me of a cemetery, nothing but dry dirt. In the other hand, the piece of land it is looking and seems its going towards looks bright with green grass and nice blue clouds unlike the other cloudy charcoal gray colors. The main detail is the fur falling off though; dirty, old, mistreated fur leaving and allowing the new, clean one to come out and make the horse look decent while the old one just hangs off him. “Help neglected animals leave their old lives behind.” Is a very powerful quote even though it is a short one it says a whole lot with just those eight words, it is telling you exactly what we would do if we were to join the RSPCA…

    • 1051 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this course, I have learned how an author creates a sense of realism in fiction. Some works of fiction deal with real-life problems or issues, such as mental health, poverty, violence, racism, addiction, and other issues. Presenting these problems in a way that feels realistic to the reader in a fictitious work requires a skillful writer, and can have a greater emotional impact on the reader. One of the realistic issues presented in the novel Black Beauty, by Anna Sewell, is the treatment of horses. Black Beauty goes to great lengths to explain the different living conditions of horses and the different ways they were treated, both the good and the bad. Black Beauty’s first home was Birtwick Park. Beauty talks about Birtwick fondly throughout…

    • 250 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics