Dbq Response to "All the Pretty Horses"

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Question No. 10 – (1973) “An effective literary work does not merely stop or cease, it concludes. In the view of some critics, a work that does not provide the pleasure of significant closure has terminated with an artistic fault. A satisfactory ending is not, however, always conclusive in every sense; significant closure may require the reader to abide with or adjust to ambiguity and uncertainty. In an essay, discuss the ending of a novel or play. Explain precisely how and why the ending appropriately concludes the work.” All The Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy, ends with the central character of the story, John Grady Cole taking back his horses from the captain who impounded them, wandering the countryside, watching the funeral of Abuela and his last connection to his old way of life, and with John drifting westward, after realizing he can no longer stay in San Angelo. The ending that Cormac chose for his novel is appropriate in a way that, by the end, John had come of age, and that the conclusion of the novel leaves him as a person and a hero, rather than trying to change something else about him. At the beginning of the novel, John Grady, a 16 year old, is at the funeral of his grandfather, and his mother deciding to sell the unprofitable ranch against his wishes and numerous requests to take over the ranch. John’s coming of age begins when he says goodbye to his father, and runs away from Texas with his friend Rawlins. It started by rebelling from the family. As the novel progresses, John also finds an unexpected love, Alejandra, and perhaps most importantly when he came of age, is that through Alejandra, he lost his innocence without becoming disillusioned. He ends it with a stoic refusal to leave Mexico without his horses, and his acceptance of the death of Abuela, his last connection to his old life. John’s coming of age also influenced his becoming
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