The Role of Dreams in Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses

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The Role of Dreams in Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses

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Cormac McCarthy All the Pretty Horses depicts the American romanticized view of the west. John Grady, emerging from a dilapidated family ventures out on a journey in pursuit of his dream of the cowboy lifestyle. Through out the novel there is a constant tension between John Grady destiny or fate and the nature of his dreams. Dreams keep the dreamer from reality and because they are unreal, they paralyze the dreamer’s reality. Nonetheless, they motivate his journey through Mexico. The different roles that his dreams play depict the different characters that John Grady assumes: the Texas teenager, the lover, the prisoner and the man. John Grady’s dreams are as complex as his character.

Without ambition or dream, life is purposeless. Naturally, John leaves the comfort of his home with the intention of discovering the purpose of his life which is mapped out in his dream. Through John Grady’s adventure McCarthy suggests the necessity for boys to leave the comfort of their homes in order to become men. Indeed, oriented by his dream of becoming a cowboy, John Grady experiences harsh realities, especially whilst imprisoned in the Mexican jail. Here is life is constantly under threat. Ultimately, John Grady kills his attacker. The act of killing symbolizes his transition to manhood. John Grady’s imprisonment infers that dreams have consequences that are not always pleasant. Although ambition provides the map for life, it does not eliminate the consequences of actions taken towards the achievement of that goal.

Ambition, goal and fantasy are all an intricate part of his life that shapes his destiny. John Grady believes in a fixed destiny, he...

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... become of them.” Staying true to his identity as an American, John Grady extends his “possibilities.” His hardships are not an “end” only misfortunes.

Dreams are often thought of as unreal and as viable modes for escaping reality; however, for John Grady dreams are an extension of his reality. Dreams extend his life through different roles: dreams as ambition, as fantasies and as an unconscious act during sleep. His dreams enable the reader to understand John Grady character as his expresses openly his aspirations in his dreams. A person’s aspirations are frequently in conflict with their reality. Likewise dreams can be in conflict with ones destiny. Nonetheless, there is blurred difference between the nature of dreams and reality. The complexity of life transforms itself into our dreams, thus dreams enable the dreamer to re-evaluate life his or life destiny.

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