An Analysis Of Cormac Mccarthy's All The Pretty Horses

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The adult life is something that John Grady Cole would most certainly believe to be like scraping a cheese grater against his head for the entire day. John Grady is a wandering cowboy, never looking to end his adventurous life and settle for a nine-to-five. Summing up one of his final adventures, John Grady said, “That it was good that God kept the truths of life from the young as they were starting out or else they’d have no heart to start at all”(pg. 284). Before leaving his family ranch, John Grady only saw the dream of the perfect ranch in Mexico, and did not consider any obstacles that would prevent him from arriving there. As such, John Grady lived the true cowboy life and fell in love with the beauty on horseback, yet their relationship …show more content…

Although it seems far-fetched, something as peculiar as punctuation can actually be connected to setting and character. In a western novel, the higher-education of the Ivy League schools will not determine if a cowboy is able to win a gun fight, or escape on horseback faster than a pursuer. Being book smart is not needed in the wild west. John Grady is sixteen years old and roaming the country as a cowboy, so obviously he has not attempted to learn in school. McCarthy writes the novel in a way that a character living as a cowboy would: with as little punctuation as possible. The lack of quotations, apostrophes, and commas serves a purpose. A cowboy writes about his many exciting adventures too fast for his hand to catch up. A cowboy would not go back and proofread. A cowboy is not concerned about having correct punctuation. Furthermore, visualizing your character beyond appearance and attitude and writing as the character would creates a diary-like novel, enhancing the western world. A cowboy would not stow his typewriter on his horse—a diary and pencil would work much better. Besides the lack of punctuation, McCarthy also writes with many examples of polysyndeton. When narrating the journey, the extended sentences with many conjunctions serves a purpose. An arduous journey in the heat of the desert is reflected by the rolling sentences that never end, where the reader can almost feel the monotony. Additionally, the novel is one that is full of adventure and unpredictable situations. As the story becomes intense and the reader is quickly reading the words, the lack of punctuation speeds up the exciting parts. No commas to stop the flow of the events, no periods to end the

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