What Is The Setting Of All The Pretty Horses Book Club Journal

Marie Narojnaia
All the Pretty Horses – Book Club Journal
All the Pretty Horses is a truly insightful novel that through its many oddities and quirks is able to convey a convincing air of realism to both its characters and the events that transpire, no matter how fantastical. For starters, McCarthy has a truly unique writing style, one that almost seems to be a stream of consciousness of sorts, wherein much of the characters’ internal dialogue is left up for interpretation. The large blocks of text, and the quotation mark-less dialogue often make the book harder to parse, as Delany pointed out in the first meeting, but it also allows for much of it to feel as though the reader has submersed directly within the setting of the novel without much
This style mirrors the inherent distractibility and impulsiveness of human nature, and even makes the characters all the more believable. Characteristics such as Alejandra’s impulsive romance, and Rawlins’ almost unreasonable loyalty to John Grady suddenly become more real and relatable. Because of this, I found myself relating and empathising to the events all throughout the novel, and especially towards the character of Alejandra, someone I might have simply overlooked if not for this brutally honest and to the point manner of writing. She is a strong female character with a passionate yet practical approach to everything that happens to her, who the writing style doesn’t romanticise or objectify in the least bit, apart from John Grady’s personal infatuation with her. Yet, despite this strength and independence she portrays she is nevertheless burdened by social expectations of her and her gender, and the restrictions this places on her behavior. She is shown to be a bright and talented young woman, and could obviously accomplish much in her life, and has the ability to take charge, stating, “Whatever my appearance might suggest, I
People will happily participate in any sort of evil so long as they are not held accountable. They were happy to commit unthinkable terrors simply because those were the orders given by forces deemed outside their power, and didn’t dwell too long on the moral consequences because they were insignificant to them anyways. Many countries were even forced to side with the Nazis due to circumstance, showing that no matter the good intentions, humans will return to evil without fail if only to convenience themselves. People are really good at rationalising their horrible actions, something that becomes quite evident within the novel itself, with all the immoral, although fundamentally good, people John Grady meets and how he struggles with moral codes. The captain and Emilio Perez repudiate the idea of “tainted money”, saying “If money is good money is good” (McCarthy, 195) regardless of the means it was procured, no matter how immoral. They jeer the young man's opposition to pay for his way out of prison, and it is clear that John Grady becomes a real hero not only due to his idealistic beliefs and his relation to life but also because