ISU Essay

NOTE: I will hand my essay in paper when there is school. I had it done since last nigh but there's no school today and the essay is due today...


Life with Horses and John Grady



Nicole Carbonare



ENG 4UE – 02
Rockland District High School
Wednesday, December 10th, 2008


In the novel All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, horses are symbolic and have a connection to everything in life. John Grady believes in a world of "all the pretty horses," because he has never known anything else. Horses connect to nature, to violence, to work, to romance and they help connect people to other people and to the past. Horses have passion while men lack it. Horses are also John Grady’s life and run through his blood. These beautiful creatures are the soul of this novel and are mentors to John Grady. They symbolize conscience, past, freedom to some extent, and battle. Not surprisingly, John Grady also thinks and acts like a horse.
At the beginning of the novel, John thinks that life is all pretty but finds out later that it is not, hence the significance of the title. Before he runs away, John Grady believes in a world of "all the pretty horses," because he has never known anything else. However, in Mexico, he is forced to see that the real world is not so straightforward, cheerful, or pure as he thought it was. The title represents the world that John Grady first knew and thought that the rest of life would be the same. Nevertheless John learns about life on his journey through horses. The life he once knew was now gone, only to be a memory and part of a dream.
As a result, John Grady discovers that the world of men and horses are different. At the beginning of his journey, he lived only with horses and some family and had Rawlins as a friend.
What he loved in horses was what he loved in men, the blood and the heat of the blood that ran them. All his reverence and all his fondness and all the leanings of his life were for the ardenthearted and they would always be so and never be otherwise. (McCarthy, 6)
John Grady did not have much of a social life but always thought that horses and men were similar. He recognizes that horses are ardenthearted and believes that men have to be the same. Yet he comprehends horses more than he does men. In the novel, John Grady has the deepest connection with horses and can communicate with them the best out of all the characters. This is evident when John and Rawlins are breaking the new horses in Mexico. John
cupped his hand over the horse's eyes and stroked them and he did not stop talking to the horse at all, speaking in a low steady voice and telling it all that he intended to do and cupping the animal's eyes and stroking the terror out. (McCarthy, 103-104)
John Grady was able to calm down the horses and break them, without much trouble, suggesting that he must somehow be connected to these creatures.
The boy who rode on slightly before him sat a horse not only as if he’d been born to it which he was but as if were he begot by malice or mischance into some queer land where horses never were he would have found them anyway. (McCarthy, 23)
This shows that horses are part of John Grady and that without them; he would still have found them. He needs horses to learn, to find himself and to try and understand the world more clearly. John Grady feels that horses are mentors. He has trouble figuring out men, which suggests that he has a mind somewhat like a horse. Horses, when first getting broken, which means that they are safe and can be ridden, are confused of what the men on their backs want from them. Only after being guided and broken a couple of times, do they start to understand that the man is the boss and what all the signals and equipment is for. After John returns back home to Texas, he comprehends that horses and men are different. The horses guided him to his conclusions.
Naturally, on John Grady’s journey, he sees that the world is quite dangerous and complicated to understand. His journey is filled with murder, stealing, and prison. When Blevins joined John and Rawlins for the ride to Mexico, Blevins got his horse stolen from him, took it back, and shot the person who took his horse. John Grady and Rawlins went to prison for helping Blevins get his horse back. In prison, they had to fight to survive and John Grady had to kill his attacker since his attacker was sent to kill him. This still haunts him till the end of the novel, which represent a conscience of a horse. John Grady is like a wild horse trying to survive. Wild horses fight their opponents until one of them dies. This happens when a stallion is trying to take over another stallion’s herd and therefore they fight to prove the herd which one of them is the better leader. When both of these horses are hard headed, they will usually fight until one gives up, runs away, gets injured very badly or dies. They do not like to kill, but if it is their only hope to survive, they have no choice.
Needless to say, Blevins mentioned in the story that he was running away from his step father and therefore took his horse and left. “I told that son of a bitch I wouldn’t take a whipping off him and I didn’t. […] ‘You didn’t shoot him did you?’ I would of. He knowed it too.” (McCarthy, 64) This quote confirms that men are violent. John Grady experiences firsthand the cruelty of humans since he killed a man in prison who was sent to kill him. His hate towards the Captain who took the horses and sent him to jail is also something unfamiliar to him. Horses that have been treated very badly by a human will have an enormous hate towards humans in general. John’s, Rawlins’ and Blevins’ horses were taken from them and they were sent to jail and as a result, John Grady will have a hate towards the person who commanded this, which was the Captain. Horses are pretty friendly until they get hurt. John Grady was always kind until the Captain hurt him by sending him to jail and taking the horses. John also got hurt by the woman he loved.
In spite of this, horses symbolize romance and John Grady originally thinks that the world is romantic too. He falls in love with a lady named Alejandra, in Mexico and the relationship becomes rather complicated. The grandmother forbids her to see him and be with him. Alejandra sees him one last time, against her grandmother’s wishes, but in the end tells John that she cannot be with him. After this, John sees that the world is not quite romantic and that horses are more romantic and dependable than people. "Finally he said that among men there was no such communion as among horses and the notion that men can be understood at all was probably an illusion." (McCarthy, 111) He does not understand why the woman that he loves will not be with him when she loves him too. They had something very special together and he had a passion for her. Why would she go and throw it all away? This is how John Grady can understand horses more than men since horses have a connection with their mate and will not just leave them behind. Horses have passion, while men lack it. Horses have a passion to run and be free. Men do not have the fiery passion that is in a horse’s heart. He believes that horses are dependable while humans are unpredictable and confusing. This also helps him reveal how they men and horses are different.
On the other hand, horses connect humans to other humans. They connect all the characters together in this novel. They connect John Grady to his whole family. Horses connect man and woman, like just John Grady and Alejandra. John Grady’s parents got connected by the love they both had for horses. John’s dad said “She liked horses. I thought that was enough. That’s how dumb I was.” (McCarthy, 24) John Grady is in addition, connected to his ancestors. Thus horses are a connection to the past. Rawlins is also joined to his father because John Grady asks “Was your old daddy a certified peeler? ‘I never heard him claim to be. But I damn sure seen him hang and rattle a time or two.’” (McCarthy, 103) This indicates that Rawlins’ father most likely broke a couple of horses like Rawlins had. The horses join John Grady, Rawlins, and Blevins together. They all love horses and are all trying to run away from home, from Texas to Mexico on their beloved mounts. Also after Blevins’ death, John Grady tries to find the owner of Blevins’ horse. The horses connect all the cowboys and Mexican cowboys together. They connect the old, the young, the poor, the rich and all people of different ethnicities. Rawlins had said, “A good lookin horse is like a good lookin woman. […] They’re always more trouble than what they’re worth.” [ellipses mine] (McCarthy, 89) Even though this is what Rawlins thinks, John Grady risks his life to get his horse, Rawlins’ and Blevins’ horses back to Texas. This verifies that horses are John’s life and he would do anything for them. He is like a horse in a herd. The herd is a safety for them and without it, there is more danger. Without a herd, horses are more vulnerable. John Grady was vulnerable when he gave his heart to Alejandra, when he went to prison and they took Rawlins away from him and when he had to protect himself from getting killed. In humans it is the same. When you are with a group of friends, it is less likely that someone will attack, bully or steal from you than when you are alone.
Furthermore, horses are a connection to nature. Horses live in nature. They roam all around the world, in forests, in the country, on mountains and are kept in the city too. They are travelers in nature since they can climb mountains, be in different vegetation, and sometimes in mild deserts. Horses bring people to these places so that they can discover the beauty on Earth. Horses help their riders escape danger, leave areas of wilderness and they can find their way back home when their riders are lost. In a series called Heartland, Amy’s horse finds his way back to the ranch that he calls home when she does not know the path to take anymore. Horses have great senses of smell and hearing and this helps them run away from danger and helps warn their rider too. When horses have a connection with their rider, they will not abandon them to face danger alone. They will protect their rider like if they were in part of a herd. Horses are also a connection to work. They work the cattle on ranches, get ridden to hunt, for battle or for pleasure. They are a means of transportation for John Grady, Rawlins and Blevins to cross the border from Texas to Mexico. In the past, horses used to help cultivate the land, transport wood and bring people all over town. Since John Grady and Lacey Rawlins are too poor for a car, they have horses as transportation. It is also harder to cross the Mexican border with a car; therefore horses are a useful means of transportation.
On the other hand, horses do have a negative side. Luis told a story and
He said that he had seen the souls of horses and that it was a terrible thing to see […] He said that if a person understood the soul of the horse then he would understand all horses that ever were. [ellipses mine] (McCarthy, 111)
This shows that John Grady understands horses more than anyone and that his limits are with men. Understanding men with their actions is very difficult for John. Horses understand each other very well, which suggests once again that John Grady has a soul of a horse. Luis also “said that the souls of horses mirror the souls of men more closely than men suppose and that horses also love war.” (McCarthy, 111) A horse likes war and John Grady does not give up the fighting in prison and kills. John Grady’s soul, mirrors horses’ souls very well. Horses are not only positive and romantic; they have fear, power, and beauty. They also have a fear of death and therefore will fight with everything they have in battle, not to die. Horses need to compete in nature when another stallion is invading a herd. They have a passion to live and they usually run from danger but will fight for their territory. They will also fight when they are trapped, like when John Grady killed his attacked because he was trapped. John Grady also tried as hard as he could, to fight for the love of his life. He traveled on his own, to find her and to try to convince her to be with him.
Horses are the soul of this novel. John Grady is like one of those mythical creatures. He has some passion in him, understands horses more than he does men, will fight in battle, has a romantic heart, is dependable, and tries not to be violent. He would be better off in a herd of horses then with a crowd of men.
Replaced by a "world that [...] seemed to care nothing for the old or the young or rich or poor or dark or pale or he or she. Nothing for their struggles, nothing for their names. Nothing for the living or the dead" (McCarthy, 301).
This demonstrates that after John’s journey and returning home to Texas, he realizes what replaced his initial thoughts of the world. The world of “All the Pretty Horses” has changed for John Grady. The world as he thought it was was now replaced by things that care for nothing. In the end, the world for John Grady is still a place that he cannot comprehend that well. Once again he is back to the beginning of not understand the world of men. All he finds out is that what he thought before his journey was all false.
The relationship between horses and men is fragile. If a man abuses a horse, that horse will never trust a human again. Horses use guilt by associations since if one human does this to them, therefore all men will be the same and hurt them too. Some men use horses only as transportation and think of them as things that need to earn their feed, meaning that they will work for their food. John Grady and Rawlins, on the other hand, treat their horses as friends. They also use them for transportation, but they care for them as if they were part of their family. This is evident when John goes back for the horses, since he will not leave Mexico without them. He almost dies trying to get them back to Texas. Many men would have left their horses and said that they will buy new ones back home. Once someone gets a horse to trust them and have a connection with them, they will most likely treat that person like a member of their herd. When there is danger, the horse will protect this person. Horse will also expect their riders to do the same for them. Horses do not like being lead into danger and if they sense danger they will turn away and become agitated. It would be wise to listen to a horse. They have senses that are better than humans and can be trusted and depended on more than humans can be. "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" (McCarthy, 111). This quote explains how the vaqueros highly value horses and that they cannot imagine a world without them. This also proves that horses “come from God” and that it is humans that make mistakes while horses cannot.
In conclusion, John realizes that the world is not as pretty as he thought it was. The horses are connections to everything that is in life. John Grady learned a lot from his journey in Mexico, thanks to horses. In the end, John Grady does think and act like a horse but is not quite like them since he is human. His soul though bears a great resemblance to the creatures he understands the most.