In the first chapter of the novel, All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy, the author goes in depth about how the main character John Cole decides to leave his life behind him and decides to travel to Mexico. This is due to the troubled family history he has dealt with in his family and through losing his family farm that his mother would rather sell than let him take over.
A very powerful paragraph that was pointed out to me was in just the first few pages of the book. On page 6, it starts with, “What he loved in horses…” This is a very powerful quote in the sense that it integrates the title of the novel as well as what John Cole feels. He relates horses to men in the sense that they are naturally wild and they must be tamed in order to ride them. But they cannot be too tamed that they do not want to ride. This shows how a balance of freedom and constraints is key in life. One must be able to realize that they are being constrained by society. And must break free every once in a while, allowing for growth and exposure in different aspects of life.
This also evokes the aspect of individuality in man that only comes out when they are truly independent and on their own. When someone is alone and not interacting with any other humans that is when you truly find out who someone is. Whether they are messy or clean, passive or aggressive, being on your own there is a plethora of self findings that one discovers about their self.
2 replies on “All The Pretty Horses: CH1 Part1 Reflection”
I am interested in how you took that quote and dove deeper into it. When I began reading the book, that quote (“What he loved in horses…” (pg 6) ) stood out to me as well. It does stand as a strong connector between John Grady Cole and All The Pretty Horses. I would further your argument that one must know when to break free and allow for growth by talking about how John Grady Cole went off to Mexico. He was too constrained in society because of his age and his relationship with his mother. The conflict between him and his mother didn’t allow him to keep growing and being exposed to different aspects of his life as a rancher, so he left. Horses symbolize the answer to when you’re stuck in society. They provide assistance since “the blood and the heat of the blood that ran them” are the same according to Cormac McCarthy. They go hand in hand, when one is down, the other is there for support.
While I was reading Austin’s response, I was especially affected by his assertion that men, like horses, are inherently wild and must be tamed and socialized. This reminded me of the justifications used for assimilation and Americanization of the native people living in America and the immigrants coming to America. It seems to me that there was similar reasoning for these acts. Early Americans believed that the natives and immigrants were a savage people of a lower class, and that it was necessary to teach them the American ways and train them to be civilized. However, I would argue that this actually fights against and blocks individuality. It leads me to think that the American settlers valued individualism for themselves, but recognizing that like horses savage people must be trained, took this individualism away from native people. I am curious to hear other people’s opinions on this topic on the blog and through class discussions.