John Grady's journey is one that leads him from innocence to experience and lets him find the 'paradise' for which he is looking. Grady is an outcast. At beginning of the novel he feels out of place in the world in which he is living. On top of that he neither understands why it is changing nor is he willing to accept it. As he is sitting in the theatre watching his mother's play, the narrator tells us his thoughts: 'He'd the notion that there would be something in the story itself to tell him about the way the world was or was becoming but there was not.'
The times are changing and he's unwilling to give up the past. The world is becoming modernized and people like him, cowboys and ranchers, are slowly disappearing. He runs away from home because he desires to find peace within himself as well as a place where he can feel he belongs. Here begins the adventure of John Grady and his best friend Lacey Rawlins. It is important to note here the means of travel. The story is taking place after World War II, a time when cars are fairly common, yet these boys decide to go on horseback, like in the fading old days. This is just another concept of how they are unwilling to give up a fading past. When they first begin their journey, the boys are having a good time. In a sense they?re two buddies on a road trip with no real motive. Rawlins even mentions, ?You know what?I could get used to this life.? Then they meet Blevins, the foil in the plot that veers the two boys of their course and also has plays a role in the lasting change of their personality. Their meeting with him gives an insight into Grady?s character. Rawlins is against letting Blevins come along with them, but because of John?s kind nature he ends up allowing Blevins to come. It?s because of this kindness and sense of morality, he gets into trouble later on.
The crossing of the Rio Grande into Mexico is an important structural device and symbol in the novel. This is when they enter the ?frame? of the novel in which all the conflicts take place. The crossing of the river naked is symbolic for the cleansing of their souls as well as a new beginning. In only a short time after arriving in Mexico, conflicts start.
So finally he is back from where he started – the life influenced by those around him. Soon he found himself playing the ball accordingly. He recognizes that in contrast to his idea of seeing himself as an independent and unique identity is a myth in the real world. Nevertheless, in the end John Grady is still headed west (p.302), just as he does at the beginning (p.5). Does he still hope for better pastures further west of Mexico?
In Borderlands, the realities of what happens by the border instill the true terror that people face every day. They are unable to escape and trapped in a tragic situation. After reading my three classmates’ papers, I was able to learn a lot more about this piece than I originally encountered just on my own. I was able to read this piece in a completely new light and expand on ideas that I did not even think of.
He is expressing his opinion to his audience in the hopes that they will recognize this and try to change how the world is; Cormac McCarthy is hoping that someone will decide that they need to become more just, and thus begin to bring justice back into the world. Throughout the novel Cormac McCarthy is expressing his idea that justice no longer exists, which he views as a problem, through having John Grady search for justice yet never find it. Not only are we presented with the issue at hand but we are also presented with the solution; be a just person and bring back the justice that is lacking in the world today. He shows us this solution when he has John Grady search for the true owner of Blevins horse even though the judge has labelled the horse as
The presence of death lingers in the coldness of the air as John Grady rides out and dreams about the lost nation: “The wind was much abated and it was very cold and the sun sat blood red and elliptic under the reefs of bloodred cloud before him.” (p. 5) this suggests that perhaps not all died with the death of his grandfather. The atmosphere changes from dead cold to warmness by the presence of blood, indicating that life still runs through that death; it is John Grady’s growth. He is aware that because he is a minor he had no say in adult business especially about the cattle ranch, his only option is to go on a journey in which he would be able to make his own decisions. McCarthy uses blood to bring dreams closer to reality which is actually John Grady sinking back into the real world by setting out to a different country. “The laminar bands of color to the west bleeding out under the hammered clouds” (p 137) He captures the beauty of the scene while the blood emphasizes the seriousness of this world ...
John Grady’s transformation from a broken family as well as abandoned by his father was unexpected. Growing up around friends who were also abandoned and no mentor or role model made his transition difficult. His love and passion for horses is strong as it was one of the few family traditions he held onto his entire life. His views on emotions and depth of relationships changed once he met Alejandra. In addition, his view on blood as a metaphorical description, to the true life force of all beings is another lesson he learned during his transformation into a young adult. In All The Pretty Horses, McCarthy uses both motifs to spread his theme throughout the novel and portray John Grady’s metamorphosis dramatically from the beginning to the end.
John left his home and set off on his quest picturing it as one of those the mythical cowboy tails while doing so Cole is also looking for himself do to the major losses he just dealt with. John Grady tests his best friends loyalty by asking him to live out the wild west cowboy dream. John Grady and his loyal friend Lacey Rawlins sets outs on horseback in search of the cowboy lifestyle. Very similar circumstances are relatable to the story Hamlet. Like Horatio straying by Hamlet’s side throughout the whole story till the very end when Hamlet is lying on the ground taking his last
... 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.
All he knew was that he wanted to escape society and discover the life extended from it. Along the way, he discovered what he was truly seeking when he made his decision to leave everything behind and enter the wild. “McCandless was thrilled to be on his way north, and he was relieved as well---relieved that he had again evaded the impending threat of human intimacy, of friendship, and all the messy emotional baggage that comes with it. He had fled the claustrophobic confines of his family. He’d successfully kept Jan Burres and Wayne Westerberg at arm’s length, flitting out of their lives before anything was expected of him. And now he’d slipped painlessly out of Ron Franz’s life as well.” - Into the Wild, 142-143 (Jon Krakauer, 1996). McCandless found people he never thought he find along his journey. He escaped his life because of all the suffocation he knew his parents would soon put him through after his graduation from college, but he then realized along his journey the appreciation he had for a loving family that cared about him. Everything that he was trying to escape from by leaving, came into view that they were the things he was searching for from the
Sometimes a character may be pushed over the edge by our materialistic society to discover his/her true roots, which can only be found by going back to nature where monetary status was not important. Chris McCandless leaves all his possessions and begins a trek across the Western United States, which eventually brings him to the place of his demise-Alaska. Jon Krakauer makes you feel like you are with Chris on his journey and uses exerts from various authors such as Thoreau, London, and Tolstoy, as well as flashbacks and narrative pace and even is able to parallel the adventures of Chris to his own life as a young man in his novel Into the Wild. Krakauer educates himself of McCandless’ story by talking to the people that knew Chris the best. These people were not only his family but the people he met on the roads of his travels- they are the ones who became his road family.
The pointedness of the play is created through a distinct plot path. The observer is lead through the story, seeing first how greatly Amanda Wingfield influences her children. Secondly, the play-goer notes how Tom Wingfield desperately struggles and writhes emotionally in his role of provider- he wants more than just to be at home, taking care of his all-too-reminiscent mother and emotionally stunted sister. Tom wants to get out from under his mother’s wing; his distinct ambitions prevent him from being comfortable with his station in life. Lastly, Laura struggles inside herself; doing battle against her shyness, Laura begins to unfurl a bit with Jim, but collapses once again after Jim announces his engagement and leaves her, again. Each character struggles and thrashes against their places in life, but none of them achieve true freedom. This plot attests to the fact that true change and freedom can only come through the saving power of God Almighty and Jesus Christ, and by letting go of the past.
The two authors really wanted the reader to see and feel what McCandless and Ruess went through to pursue what they considered happiness and their willingness to be in the wilderness. They used ethics, personal definitions of wilderness/wildness and as readers we got to compare the two boys. Chris McCandless was a selfish, educated and emotional individual and in contrast Everett Ruess was the meaning of being wild and free. Ruess was not ever selfish but only selfish through the way he wanted to live and his family respected him for that, because he was so open about it all. He loved his family unlike McCandless. And Ruess, through his letters, would keep in contact with his family and friends, even though people speculated why he disappeared (wanting to be left alone, being killed, and even hiding with the Native American people) (Rusho 232). It does not seem like he disappeared on purpose unlike Chris McCandless. Either way the reader views how McCandless and Ruess lived their life, at least they wanted to live their life the way they felt like it should be
The moment he felt Curley¡¦s wife moving away, he acted on his inner feelings and he was frightened. The scene portrayed a good example of the interaction of two complete strangers, it was interesting to see how they shared things and opened up to each other.Part Two:This scene is related to the theme in different ways. I think that it incorporates three main aspects of the theme. It is related to belonging, loneliness and dreams.
Contrary to the story’s focus on horses, the movie focuses on the romance between John Grady and Alejandra as its poster has the couple with a greater presence compared to the miniscule graphic of horses shoved on the bottom; whereas the book’s cover is graced with the image of a horse and only of that horse. Of all the events that were absent from the movie, the romance scenes are the most kept intact as well as an odd addition of an onlooker dancing when John Grady finishes talking with Alejandra on the phone after being bailed out of jail. In fact, it feels like horses are more of an afterthought in this adaptation because John Grady does not put any emphasis on them as he does in the novel. While in jail, John Grady had a dream about horses, “… in the dream he was among the horses running and in the dream he himself could run with the horses …” (McCarthy 161) In the fashion of flickering images for a subliminal message, brief, flashing visions of Alejandra are injected into this dream when there were none. Romance is pushed as the main focus of the story, but it fails to make the couple fulfilling since the dynamic between John Grady and Alejandra is not developed well enough to make it
His exile’s curse is momentous, for it suffers him the greatest of pains — the cruel torture that only a heartbreak can afford. While cut off from his family, friends and homeland, Grady encounters Alejandra, his employer’s daughter. The two share a, somewhat, forbidden love affair. Love transforms John Grady as it is something that he has never experienced before. However he also clings to his love for Alejandra despite ignoring the outcome. Eventually as Grady begins to love Alejandra more and more, she is forced to reject him, due to her family’s wishes. Grady is crushed. His forbidden love — his only love — has left him with nothing. His exile has ripped from him his three greatest accomplishments. Alejandra leaves him, Blevins is executed and his friendship with Rawlins is corrupted as Rawlins leaves Grady and goes home to Texas. Grady romantically thought that Mexico would be his salvation, however, the frontier becomes his exile. As he rides back home, he becomes his exile’s victim and another figure in the desert; his and his horse’s shadows fuse into one lonely being, riding westwards onto
In The Road you are exposed to a post apocalyptic setting, in which you are shown how strong you must be to survive and the willingness to do so. The son and father represent souls trying to find the spark in the darkness. By not being in this setting you gain knowledge of what to do and how to do it to stay alive. People are different in different circumstances and will change with their surroundings. But some will continue to fight for what they know to be right, even if it means going against the crowd, just like the father and son had done. All you need is a spark, no matter how small, to keep you going.