Rawlins – American Society and Culture

All the Pretty Horses ERA pg. 257-conclusion

This section begins with John Grady Cole going back to the police unit who detained him, Rawlins, and Blevins to get their horses and belongings back. In the process, he decides to take the capitan who gave the order to have a family member of one of Blevins’ victims kill Blevins as a hostage. John Grady Cole successfully escapes with his belongings but is shot in the leg in the process. In the desert with the Capitan, he uses a pistol barrel to cauterize his wound.

One morning, a group of strangers happen upon John Grady Cole and the Capitan who is handcuffed. They peacefully make John Grady Cole release the Capitan, at which point the hostage situation ends.

John Grady Cole returns to America and tries to determine who the rightful owner of Blevins’ horse is. He goes to court and a judge, upon hearing his story, grants him legal ownership of the horse. Then John Grady Cole goes to the house of who he thinks is Blevins’ family, only to find out that they are not Blevins’ family. He then goes to Rawlins’ house to return his horse. After that, he sets out on his own, riding off into the desert.

What stood out to me most in this section was the conclusion, or, rather, the non-conclusion. Where is John Grady Cole going? What is he going to do now? How is he going to pay for food? No idea. At a seemingly opportune time for John Grady Cole to reflect on his experiences and realize how toxic the lifestyle he loves has been for him, the main character does not decide to go and reunite with his mother and start over. He decides to continue on the exact same path as before.

Knowing John Grady Cole as a character, this should come as no surprise to readers. He is the type of character who, once committed to something or someone, will let nothing change his course. It just seemed to me that, if there was ever a time in his life he should have allowed himself to change course, it should have been at the end of this novel. What is left for John Grady Cole out on the open plains? He is no longer with his best friend, he lost the woman he loved, and every day the “West” gets smaller and smaller. The world is leaving him behind, yet he is a 17-year-old with the work ethic, dedication, and commitment to truly make something of himself regardless of what he decides to do. It is strange that his heart leads him somewhere where his potential success is so limited by the environment he is putting himself into. Automobiles are only improving at this time period, and the world becomes more urban and industrial every day.

This is why I am having trouble conceiving of a plausible path for John Grady Cole after this conclusion in which things go well for him. If you agree, disagree, I’d be happy to hear your thoughts.

Huntingdon & Horses

“All the Pretty Horses” seeks to explore American myth and American identity through its presentation of the story of John Grady Cole. What I have found interesting throughout the novel so far is how McCarthy strives to accomplish this through the eyes of a largely uneducated 16 year old. John Grady Cole has never read Alexis De Toqueville or taken a 100 level sociology course, but through his actions and his very being he is exploring and exemplifying many of the same themes that Huntington touches upon in his book “Who Are We.”

One section that specifically caught my attention was a scene from when John Grady Cole and Rawlins were trekking through the Mexican desert after they lost Blevins. The pair lacked most provisions, and they sat down for dinner one night only because Rawlins was lucky enough to spot and shoot a buck. As they sat cooking and eating, they talked amongst themselves.

The conversation was exactly what you would expect 16 year olds living the life of Grady and Rawlins to talk about. They talk about hunting, food, and cooking. But seemingly out of nowhere, the conversation turned towards the existential. Rawlings and Grady discussed whether or not they think about dying as well as their positions on the existence of Heaven and Hell. These themes and others are the chief themes that Huntingdon argues have characterized the American national identity since before the country’s founding.

The boys in the story are living a life full of religious symbolism as well. They are currently out in the wilderness on a journey to an unknown land. Echoes of the story of Abraham and God’s call to him or Jesus venturing out into the wilderness pervade this seemingly simple story about two boys looking for work on a ranch.

John Grady Cole and Rawlins may be discussing life’s big ideas, but what is remarkable is that they do it in the language of largely uneducated 16 year old boys. To provide some examples…

“You fixin to get religion on us?”

“You think about all the stuff that can happen to you,” he said. “There aint no end”

“You aint fixin to quit on me are you?”

The point about American culture that I believe McCarthy is trying to make is that these fundamentally Anglo Protestant ideas and eternal human questions are so pivotal to the American psyche that even boys as unrefined as these who spend their time hunting in the wilderness to keep themselves alive have an affinity for such serious topics as God and fate. What distinguished certainly the Puritans and most definitely the American population generally throughout all its history was their habit of keeping these questions and their answers always close at hand. I think one of the ultimate testaments to that is Rawlins and John Grady Cole talking about life and death and God in simple terms while eating freshly killed venison somewhere between the USA and Mexico. While enlightenment philosophers and theologians could have articulated their points in a much more sophisticated way, the American identity exemplified here is one and the same.