Passage Into Adulthood in "All the Pretty Horses"

836 Words4 Pages
In “All the Pretty Horses,” Cormac McCarthy does an excellent job incorporating themes into the story. Although there are various themes in the story, the one of greatest importance is shown through the main character of the story, John Grady. This character faces a great deal of challenges in the book and during his journey, he learns more about himself and matures into a changed man. This passage into adulthood consists of a change in identity and the loss of innocence. The theme is revealed through rebellion, love, and experience. In the beginning of this story, John Grady is a naïve teenager who does not yet know very much about life. When John learns his mother is yearning to leave the ranch that was inherited by the death of his grandfather to pursue an acting career. His first reaction is to try to convince her to let him run the ranch himself but, his request was denied. In his effort to stop the selling of the ranch, he learns from a lawyer that his father and mother are divorced. John visits his mother on her acting trip but quickly he realizes this cosmopolitan city was not for him. All these events led John to run away with his friend Rawlin, a trip that not only involves travelling, but also development. Running away was only the beginning of losing his innocence and maturing. He soon begins to see the world for what it really was instead of this fiction of freedom he created in his mind. This was not an instantaneous realization though, the beginning of the trip was exactly what Rawlins, and John expected. Alejandra was a revelation for John, his first love. Although he genuinely loved her, he was merely a pawn to Alejandra. John was banned from seeing Alejandra by her aunt, but soon enough, she visited him at his ranch. In a way, Alejandra tricked John into losing the most innocent part of him, his virginity. John also betrayed his word

More about Passage Into Adulthood in "All the Pretty Horses"

Open Document