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All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy through John Grady Cole highlights a worldview and values consistent with that of Ango-Protestant culture as defined by Samuel Huntington in Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity. One of the greatest Anglo-Protestant values is that of family and furthermore the value of the family name. This is a great aspect we see represented by John Grady throughout the novel as he leaves his family behind in Texas and moves on to Mexico and creates new relationships. Huntington describes how the American identity was formed by the settlers and impacts the way both United States society and government structure to this day. The Anglo-Protestant culture shaped the way this structure was created and defined. It laid a foundation for equality, freedom of religion, and individualism. It created a heightened sense of work ethic and motivation to promote success. 

Throughout this journey, we see both the struggles and successes of John Grady through his travels. He works hard to keep his stay at his newfound living situations and is able to make a home for himself in many different places. Thus extreme work ethic is commonly associated with the foundation laid by the Anglo-Protestants as they were known for being very hard workers. He has a wanting for exploration and newfound success. To find transportation he makes friends with many people such as farmworkers and to find living he uses his knowledge of horses and extreme work ethic. These are characteristics defined by the foundation laid by the Anglo-Protestants.

John Grady values his family as demonstrated by the pressure put on him by the death of his grandfather. Once his grandfather passes away, John Grady is the last male in his family to carry it, as represented by his funeral. It is stated by McCarthy that it was “buried with that old man” (McCarthy 4). We watch John Grady question his identity as he stares at his reflection in the portrait of his deceased ancestors. The portrait defines a culture made by both the past and present of the family. This provides him with identities of hard work, live dangerously, and promotes a desire to take risks and be independent. It was even stated that his grandfather was the last of 8 a family of wreckless brothers. McCarthy writes, “was the oldest of eight boys and the only one to live past the age of twenty-five. They were drowned, shot, kicked by horses. They perished in fires. They seemed to fear only dying in bed.” This not only paints a picture of the value of masculinity and recklessness but that of adventure and freedom. This promotes the wreckless actions of John Grady that occur in the novel. This sense of adventure came along with the motivation for travel, looking for a new life from the Anglo-Protestants. 

Through John Grady’s sense of adventure, family value, and extreme work ethic, we see many prevalent worldviews and values consistent with that of Ango-Protestant culture as defined by Samuel Huntington in Who Are We? The Challenges to America’s National Identity. John Grady represents these aspects through his hard work to maintain his keep as well of his sense of adventure and family legacy. Although these aspects have reshaped over time, they provide a framework that we can recognize in John Grady Cole as well as today.

This movie is set in the wild west during the 1980s. It depicts a time and culture of freedom where you can seem to get away with anything you would like. The main character is named Llewelyn Moss, he is a Vietnam war veteran who has settled down with his partner in the Midwest of the US. In the opening scene he is out hunting in the fields and gets lost tracking an animal. While he was wondering around, he come across this disturbing scene. There are about 5 or 6 cars shot up and 10 people dead on the ground. The main character has been so desensitized to these types of situations because of the war. Llewelyn walks around to find that it had been a drug deal that took a turn and he later finds the ‘last man standing’, who had a duffle bag of cash. He takes the cash, and this becomes the set up for the rest of the movie. 

The law is these two ‘cowboys’ who are lackadaisical about their duties to protect the people, and this is emphasize in the first couple of scenes. The policeman come up to an open massacre in the prairie and they seem to think little of it. It was only a drug deal gone wrong to them, and they could shrug it off. These two will later come back to the movie when the climax begins to build.  You can hear them talking about how useless they feel throughout the movie, because they can do nothing to stop all of these murders. 

Anton Chigurh is the murder in the movie. This man has murdered 3 people in cold blood before the first 30 minutes of the movie. He has been hired by drug lords to hunt and kill Llewelyn because he took their drug money. The two men have many interactions that end in shoot outs or chases, but both always come away with their lives.  The finial shoot out scene both Llewelyn and Chigurh get injured in the altercation. The two flee for help on opposite sides and part ways. 

Llewelyn runs from Chigurh and decides to pick up a hitchhiker on the way for extra protection. Yet, this doesn’t work. When they get to the next hotel local drug dealers shoot and kill the main character. Chigurh shows up and is pissed because Llewelyn didn’t give him the money. So, to keep his word Chigurh goes back to Llewelyn’s home and kills his partner, which he had promised. On his way out of the movie Chigurh gets into a car crash and brutally breaks his arm. He pays a young boy a lot of money for his shirt and then walked away from the scene of the crime. 

This movie sets the scene of a country that has little law enforcement. You are made to believe that in the Midwest you are on your own. Llewelyn has to fight his own battle and protect himself because the law enforcement in his town cannot stop the drug lords and their accomplice on a murdering spree.  As the title say, No Country for Old Men, this is not a place for the elderly or slow. If you can’t not protect yourself you will have no chance of survival.

This book shows three American boys who have decided that running off to Mexico was in their best interest. They leave the ‘land of the free’ to go to another more physically free place. I found it interesting that these boys found it necessary for their success and happiness to travel to Mexico to find work and start a new life. In these times not many people decided to leave America, because it was the home of the most individual freedom. People normally went to America to find their freedom not away from it. This shows that in the 1940s there was a restlessness of the people for work and success. Everyone wanted to be a part of the American dream and if it did not come quickly to them or there was a small obstacle they looked elsewhere just like John Cole.