The inevitable outcomes of fate in our lives are like a boundless chain of dominos falling successively. Every action is calculated and deliberate; our lives are a predetermined path that only someone as powerful as God could change. Cormac McCarthy demonstrates both the good and evil that the power of fate brings for his character John Grady in All the Pretty Horses. John Grady’s journey starts in Texas, where he realizes after his grandfather’s death that there isn’t much left for him there. He idealizes a cowboy way of life not found in Texas. He journeys with his buddy Rawlins across the border to Mexico, a lawless desert land where trouble never seems too far away. Fate leads him to a capricious kid named Blevins, whose erratic behavior and rare, expensive, and thought to be stolen horse creates a series of dilemmas for John Grady when he arrives at La Purísima, a Mexican ranch. He finds more than just the cowboy way of life he longs for at the ranch; he also finds Alejandra, the owner’s attractive daughter. As fate would have it, he falls in love with her, but fate would also have it that their love is forbidden. Matters only get worse when John Grady falls in trouble with law insuring only more chaos. The series of events that Cormac McCarthy writes in All the Pretty Horses are meant to unfold as if the hands of fate put John Grady through all the pain, and suffering to be reborn, matured, and find salvation at the end of journey.
The mysterious ways of predestination and fate first occur to push John Grady away from home and towards Mexico. The first “push” comes when John Grady loses his grandfather: “He looked at the face so caved and drawn among the fold of the funeral cloth, the yellow mustache, the eyelids paper ...
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... and cured of his childish fantasy of a cowboy life. The road to his new found salvation was paved with suffering, but worth all the pain. The author uses fate to unfurl the events in the book so that each builds upon one another, to lead to John Grady’s purpose for suffering: his rebirth. Throughout the book, fate tempts him away from perhaps his morals or the logical decision, because consciously he wouldn’t have made those decisions himself. It’s also through this journey that John Grady finds God- the controller of fate. Despite suffering, John Grady doesn’t develop a bitter relationship, but a closer one with God as God bring him closer to salvation. Still struggling internally with the crimes and events of Mexico, John Grady hasn’t lost his adventurous nature back home in Texas. The book is left with the possibility that yet another adventure awaits him.
“Growing up” is a very broad term that is used without a true, consistent definition. In essence, it describes and encompasses themes of coming of age and the loss of innocence as a person moves from child to adult. In many respects, people view this change as a specific, pivotal moment in a person’s life, such as an eighteenth birthday, or the day a person leaves their parents’ house. This idea of having a crucial moment in life, which provides the open door into adulthood, is portrayed in many novels. It is easy to find a death that occurs, or a specific event that causes a character to “grow up” prematurely, but many times, contrary to most beliefs, that exact event is not the turn of the key leading through the doors to maturity. It is rather just a small push which starts a domino effect. This is the same scenario in the novel All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy. This novel proves that loss of innocence is a learning process rather than the result of a
Mistakes can seriously impact the people who make them; however, the effects are not always negative. In the book, Whirligig, by Paul Fleischman, a teenage boy named Brent is the new kid in town and he faces some major problems with his peers. After being pushed around, treated like a pawn, and utterly rejected, Brent tries to commit suicide by taking his hands off the wheel of his moving car. Although Brent’s attempt is not successful, his actions still have a tragic ending- Lea, a young, kind, beautiful girl, is unlucky enough to be in the car that Brent crashes into. The car accident results in Lea’s death, but also the start of Brent’s magical journey of redemption. Brent’s task is to travel to the four corners of the country, build and display whirligigs, and keep Lea’s spirit alive. Though Brent may not realize it, the trip does influence him in many different ways, one major change being Brent’s newfound ability to create strong relationships with a variety of people that he meets during the course of his adventure. Throughout Brent’s journey, Paul Fleischman uses the people that Brent interacts with to portray the idea that friendships can be formed regardless of personality type, race, and age.
...Mexico teaches him that the world is completely different. The real world is filled with hardship and disappointment, not his idea of simple innocence. John also learns that the romanticism he finds in horses only exist in horses and cannot be applied to people like you and me. His relationship with the horses exists on so many levels: he uses them for friendship, comfort, transportation, and as spiritual mentors. Also, McCarthy describes the horses passionately. John's distinct relationship with the horses causes him to believe humans are like that. Yet, on his journey he learns that men do not have the same passion as horses but instead are violent creatures that make the world ugly, not pretty because of all the heartbreak, and death he has to go through on his long journey.
In this section the importance of destiny is again reminded to us. In this story the idea of God chooses your destiny and some of us become kings and some become slaves. It doesn’t matter what you do because you can’t change your destiny God has picked out for you.
Justin Morgan was a living legend. Born in 1789, Justin Morgan started life as a small, rough-coated colt known as "Figure." Gradually, the local population began to talk about the feats of "the Justin Morgan horse". Justin Morgan also proved to be one of the greatest breeding horses of all time. While most breeds develop by breeding horses of similar characteristics to each other, Justin Morgan's ability to pass his characteristics to his offspring for generations to come allowed this single stallion to found an entire breed in his likeness. Today, every registered Morgan traces back to Justin Morgan through his best-known sons Bulrush, Sherman, and Woodbury.
The protagonist is to find disappointment and failure in all his pursuits. “Bordertown” opens with a law school commencement where Johnny is introduced as a “tough kid” who came out of the barrio and overcame many obstacles to successfully graduate from law school. Here, we are also introduced to Johnny’s over- affectionate, dim- witted mother and his local parish priest. Together, they act as his support group and often discourage his ambitions.
As humans, we are ignorant to our fate. We are forced to blindly walk into destinies in which we will never understand the full extent of; however, fate is cruel. It tortures humanity by abusing its power to give and take away, and its callous manner allows it to enjoy the suffering it imposes upon everyone. In Ann Patchett’s acclaimed classic, Bel Canto, fate constructs a bitter path in which its victims are bound to follow. After months of captivity, the hostages finally find beauty in their way of living during a time of horror, only for fate to brutally snatch it away in a matter of seconds. They are bonded by the beauty they create in their environment, “She prayed that God would look on them and see the beauty of their existence and leave
Throughout the hundreds of years, individuals have pondered the impact of heavenly or insidious force, environment, hereditary qualities, even excitement, as deciding how free any individual is in settling on good decisions. Fate, a result of the past, is often described as the advancement of occasions out of man 's control, dictated by an extraordinary force. In any case that someone may utilize their freewill can reflect upon their outcomes, decided upon a supreme force, whether they are positive or negative. In the novels “A Lesson Before Dying,” Ernest Gaines and “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck, the authors explore the trials and tribulations of self influenced fate controlled by an higher force.
“All the Pretty Horses”, a novel written by Cormac McCarthy tells the tale about a man and his friend travelling the plains of Mexico after leaving their homes in Texas. As the novel’s name alludes to, horses are a central theme in the story as they represent manhood and freedom when John Grady, the protagonist, and his friend Rawlins get thrown in jail. McCarthy’s novel became critically-acclaimed which gained him more recognition, as well as a movie adaptation directed by Billy Bob Thornton. Even though Thornton’s adaption has the basics of the novel’s story it does not appropriately grasps its depth. While Thornton’s version stays faithful to the dialogue from the book’s included scenes it does fall short by having an erratic pace, having
...fe for oneself. McCandless primary tragic flaw being his unwillingness to form long-term relations brought him both to the happiest moment of his life, but also to his demise. McCandless never had a problem with people, but rather with the status quo of society, the idea that a man or a woman has to live inside of a coordinate plane. McCandless left home and went on his adventure simply for his own well being, he achieved both what he wanted to accomplish while learning a valuable lesson along the way. He learned that happiness must be shared, and while everyone has his or her flaws, it is important to let these go. Christopher McCandless should teach people the importance of following your dreams, and the importance of enjoying the natural serenity of life.
There are many unpredictable and ungovernable accidents, coincidences, and chances that drive the universe and can ultimately affect the events of a person’s life. One of the main concepts surrounding David Guterson’s novel, Snow Falling on Cedars, is the power of free will vs. fate. The last sentence of the novel: “accident ruled every corner of the universe except the chambers of the human heart” explains the lack of control that humans have on the forces surrounding them compared to the control they have over their actions or decisions and the impact that it has. Snow Falling on Cedars looks closely at the effect free will and fate has through the murder trial that occurs post World War II in the story where a Japanese American, Kabuo Miyamoto, is charged with the murder of an American, Carl Heine. As the trial takes place, the story interconnects the characters one of who is Ishmael Chambers, a journalist who may be Kabuo’s only hope but struggles with the decision to do what’s right as he was left burned by Kabuo’s wife and his childhood love, Hatsue. The notion of chance and free will can be seen especially in the character of Ishmael who struggles against the effects of the war and Hatsue leaving him. And as a Japanese American during the war, Hatsue herself displays the power of free will in her self-acceptance and in creating a balance in her life. Apart from the portrayal of free will vs. chance in the development of the characters, certain events in the novel such as the case of Carl Heine’s death and the war itself exhibits similar themes. However, unlike Carl’s death, the war shows that there are instances where circumstance may be the result of human actions. In David Guterson’s Snow Falling on Cedars, the events tha...
Dorothy Johnson in “A Man Called Horse” writes about a young man who was born and raised in Boston. He lives in a gracious home under his grandmothers and grandfather’s loving care. For some reason, he is discontent. He leaves home to try to find out the reason for his discontent. Upon leaving he undergoes a change in status and opinion of himself and others. He begins a wealthy young man arrogant and spoiled, becomes a captive of Crow Indians- docile and humble, and emerges a man equal to all.
Through O’Connor’s religious background, the audience must closely analyze the true message of her story through her symbolism. Her shocking and grotesque ending of the short story challenges individuals by questioning what is good and what is evil. O’Connor’s symbolism found in her setting and main characters truly embody her view of modern society. She uses these elements as a representation for the realistic paths individuals struggle to choose between: the path involved in sin concerning money, good looks, and pride or the path towards God concerning morals, values, and respect for humanity.
Atwood’s “Happy Endings” retells the same characters stories several times over, never deviating from clichéd gender roles while detailing the pursuit of love and life and a happy ending in the middle class. The predictability of each story and the actions each character carries out in response to specific events is an outline for how most of us carry on with our lives. We’re all looking for the house, the dog, the kids, the white picket fence, and we’d all like to die happy.
A 332-page fictional novel, Every Day, uses, characterization, vivid imagery, and irony to convey to readers that, systems don’t follow rules. In the novel, A is not a human; he is a soul wandering body to body each day. He fell in love with a girl named Rhiannon, and wanted her, but he knew it was impossible because of his conditions. The novel took place in Maryland, and was based off of A’s life. David Levithan used characterization, vivid imagery, and irony to show readers that you don’t have to follow rules, because it won’t lead you to your destiny.