Analysis on All the pretty Horses Essay Example for Free

Analysis on All the pretty Horses Essay The title of Cormac McCarthys novel All the Pretty Horses, reflects the significance and variance of roles that horses play in this coming-of-age story, as they relate to John Grady Cole who is the focus of the novel. The horse, which was the social foundation of Western American culture then, is described as an economical and practical asset to the boys John Grady and Lacey Rawlins. However, the author also describes horses abstract qualities using idyllic and impassioned diction, depicting them as animals of a highly advanced spiritual nature, similar to humans in some ways. John Grady has an intimate relationship with all horses and understands the world of horses extraordinarily well. On his journey from Texas to Mexico, he learns that the world of men is very different from that of horses and is forced to rethink about the relationship between humans and horses. John discovers that his preconceived notions about men and human society are false. He finds that they do not live in a romantic world, as he had believed. Therefore, the title that McCarthy has chosen is ironic and symbolizes the change that John experiences. The author uses the title to represent Johns initial perspective on the world, which turns out to be the opposite later on. Johns life, like all of Western American society during the timeframe of the story, revolved around horses. In fact, I think that he is able to understand the horses more than he does about men. The horses in the novel represent strength, untamed passion, and most importantly, freedom of spirit. The veneration that the vaqueros have for horses is apparent in the tales Luis tells the boys. the old man only said that it was pointless to speak of there being no horses in the world for God would not permit such a thing (111). I feel that this quote demonstrates to the readers very well on the strong feelings of passion of the vaqueros, cattle-ranchers, that they value horses so highly that they are able to regard themselves as nearly divine. It also reinforces Johns romantic notion that horses are highly spiritual beings. Like the vaqueros, the boys respect the horses, and these animals play large roles in their lives. The boys use horses in many ways throughout the novel, such as companions and as means of transportation or escape. John even has dreams about horses, as his thoughts were of horsesstill wild on the mesa whod never seen a man afoot and who knew nothing of him or his life yet in whose souls he would come to reside forever (118). This style of expression used in referring to horses here wild and souls is idealistic and almost poetic. Furthermore, the fact that John dreams about horses in this way and that he wants to reside forever in their souls shows that he, like the vaqueros, thinks of them very highly. Throughout the novel, the author does not fail to use romantic and emotional language to describe horses and their connections to humans. By using venerating diction in describing the horses, the author portrays these animals as noble being with wild spirits. Besides that, with vivid imagery, the author is able to paint us a poignant picture of horses. The painted ponies and the riders of that lost nation came down out of the north with their faces chalked and their long hair plaited and each armed for war which was their lifeWhen the wind was in the north you could hear them, the horses and the breath of the horses and the horses hooves that were shod in rawhide (5). This introduction of horses in the beginning of the novel demonstrates the passion and dedication that the author attributes to horses. The mood created by words such as painted ponies and the breath of the horses is passionate and emotionally charged. The author also continues to describe the raw energy and life that f lows through the horses. John Gradywas holding the horsewith the long bony head pressed against his chest and the hot sweet breath of it flooding up from the dark wells of its nostrils over his face and neck like news from another world (103). These metaphors such as the dark wells of its nostrils and news from another world create a forceful likeness of mysterious animals with a nature that is foreign to humans. The horses hot sweet breathflooding up displays the life and energy that fill the horses. This mysterious energy is also apparent later, when the author writes, He rode the last five horsesthe horses dancing, turning in the light, their red eyes flashingthey moved with an air of great elegance and seemliness (107). This imagery of red eyes flashing and horses dancing is very mysterious yet still striking. The descriptive detail is very cinematic, and any of these scenes could easily be made into a movie. These extremely in depth  descriptions are so exaggerated that they are almost unrealistic, but they are able to create the desired effect in making horses seem mystical and bizarre. These are the romantic creatures that John sees, the pretty horses that can be taken off the title. John Gradys connection with horses is as mystical as the horses themselves. He is one way or another, able to communicate with all horses on a deeper level than any other character in the story. This is evident on the Hacienda in the scene in which John and Rawlins are breaking some new horses. John cupped his hand over the horses eyes and stroked them and he did not stop talking to the horse at all, speaking in a low steady voice and telling it all that he intended to do and cupping the animals eyes and stroking the terror out (103). Johns ability to stroke the terror out of the horses is just like in a case of a parent calming a frightened child. Obviously, he must have some natural tie with these animals if he is able to do this. Indeed, the author has already unambiguously stated that such a bond does exist between John Grady and the horses earlier on when he writes, The boy who rode on slightly before him sat a horse not only as if he had been born to it which he was but as if were he begot by malice or mischance into some queer land where horses never were he would have found them anyway (23). This passage shows that Johns relationship with horses extends into the metaphysical range, a view that is reinforced throughout the novel as more is revealed about John Grady and the horses. As Luis says, the horse shares a common soulif a person understood the soul of the horse then he would understand all horses that ever were (111). It seems like as if the author is trying to tell us that John Grady has this ability to be familiar with the soul of the horse, and that is why his relationship with horses is so unique. Johns reliance on his knowledge of horses as a guide in the world of men eventually reveals to him that the two species are actually very different. When John starts out on his journey, he has very little knowledge about the inner workings of the human society, but he has superficially assumed men and horses to be similar. As the author writes in the opening of the novel, What he loved in horses he loved in men, the blood and the heat of the blood that ran them. All his reverence and all his fondness and all the leanings of his life were for the ardenthearted and they would always be so and never be otherwise (6). John knows that horses are ardenthearted and believes that men must be the same too. He thinks that his journey will be a romantic and passionate one, like the horses he loves, and will strengthen his view of the world. However, he soon learns that his assumption is not what the reality is. Before anything unfortunate happens to him, John hears from Luis that among men there was no such communion as among horses and the notion that men can be understood at all is probably an illusion (111). The first doubts then began to creep into Johns mind, and eventually, he finds out about this personally. Instead of pretty horses, Johns journey is filled with murder and stealing, prison and broken hearts. His ill-fated journey proves clearly about Luis point, and totally destroys Johns belief that the world of men is at all an understandable thing. Finally, when it is all over, he returns home disappointed, only to find that both his father and his Abuela have died. Johns fanciful concept of the world of men now has been completely replaced by a world thatseemed to care nothing for the old or the young or rich or poor or dark or pale or he or she. Nothing for their struggles, nothing for their names. Nothing for the living or the dead (301). The world of all the pretty horses is nothing to him now but a distant memory. This reveals the titles irony, a story titled All the Pretty Horses would apparently never involve the death and violence that is included in Johns travels. Indeed, John has come full circle and realized that his original assumptions about men were false. The title of McCarthys novel All the Pretty Horses is not meant to be taken literally. Before he runs away, John Grady believes in the world of all the pretty horses, because he has never known anything else. However, his time in Mexico disheartens him and forces him to believe otherwise, that the real world is not so simple, carefree, or innocent. John learns that the romanticism that he ascribes to horses cannot be applied to men. John respects horses and experiences the praise of these animals in the folklore of the day. His relationship with horses exists on many levels, by being his  transportation, his friends, and his spiritual companions. Furthermore, the author illustrates the horses with emotional diction creating almost a motif of passion whenever horses are described. Johns unusual understanding of the fervent spirit of horses leads him to believe that men are the same. However, on his bleak and disappointing journey, he learns that men do not have the same passion of s pirit as horses. Instead, they are unpredictable, violent creatures, and their world is certainly not always pretty. I think that it is utterly important for us as readers to understand what the author is trying to tell us by looking at the title and try to understand deeper with the details that the author provides us. Initially I thought that this novel is just going to give details of various horses that man uses in many different ways. However, I was completely wrong on making the judgment by its cover title. This novel teaches us about the reality in human world that no one will be able to predict what is going happen. He illustrates the morals and ethics that have survived throughout the ages, while ending up with nothing else is left, leaving only memories to be reminders of the mysterious and naturally beautiful time period. I am sure after reading this novel, one would never be able to forget the pain, suffering, romance, and above all loyalty inscribed on its pages or in the memories of those who lived through it.

Greek Life Under Attack :: essays papers

Greek Life Under Attack According to an article written by Jay Reeves, administrators at the University of Alabama are getting involved in integrating sororities and fraternities by imposing rules and punishments for those organizations that do not comply. Since the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960?s, Americans like to think that segregation does not exist in the United States. However, sororities and fraternities across the country are being viewed as segregated. Many people in society feel that it is the administrators job to enforce integration among fraternities and sororities, but others feel that it should be up to the students to integrate themselves and that the faculty should stop interfering. Many of those who feel that integration should be left untouched by the administrations of the school know that historically Greek organizations have been segregated. For almost a century the groups have remained segregated naturally, or by choice. Since this has never been an issue before administrators should not even bother to integrate sororities and fraternities. Furthermore, what happens of no members of the opposite race want to join a traditional race oriented frat or sorority? How can administrators justify punishing Greek organizations if members of the opposite race truly have no interest in joining? However, over the years this segregation has blindly detained people from limited backgrounds to be able to engage themselves with people of other backgrounds. This is the case for the family in Rodriguez?s ?Aria.? The family?s background limits them to having interactions with people of other backgrounds. Rodriguez says, ?it never occurred to my parents that they couldn?t live wherever they chose?despite their accomplishments the confidence of ?belonging? in public was withheld from them? (658). Richard cannot interact with the other children at first because his background uses a different language, which prohibits this interaction. These examples show that segregation causes barriers to be built, and once constructed are very hard to overcome if interaction takes place at a later time. Forcing integration reverses this problem by giving a chance for various backgrounds to interact with each other. This forced integration can also bring many more options to those students who are interested in joining a sorority or fraternity thus increasing the overall memberships of the Greek community.

Effective Leadership Essay

Being an effective leader means learning who you are and what you stand for, and having the courage to act on your values. Moral leadership is quite similar to the concept of servant leadership in that the emphasis and the reward are based in doing for others. A leader serves using an ethical foundation which is then adapted and acted on by followers within the organization. Moral leadership describes how leaders make decisions according to beliefs about right and wrong. A system of morals, or beliefs, is also very personal to leaders. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., displayed courage and moral leadership; Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the eldest son of Martin Luther King Sr., a Baptist minister and Alberta Williams King. King attended local segregated public school. He entered Morehouse College at the age of 15 and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology in 1948. After graduating with honors from Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania in 1951, he went to Boston University where he earned a doctoral degree in systematic theology in 1955. Throughout his education, King was exposed to influences that related Christian theology to the struggles of oppressed people. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., operated on moral leadership, distinguishing right from wrong and doing right, seeking the just, the honest, the good, and the right conduct in achieving goals and fulfilling purpose. In May of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr., and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference staff escalated anti-segregation marches in Birmingham by encouraging teenagers and school children to join. Hundreds of singing children filled the streets of downtown Birmingham, angering Sheriff Bull Connor, who sent police officers with attack dogs and firefighters with high-pressure water hoses against the marchers. Scenes of young protesters being attacked by dogs and pinned against buildings by torrents of water from fire hoses were shown in newspapers and television around the world. During the demonstration, King was arrested and sent to jail. He wrote a letter from his jail cell to local clergymen who had criticized him for creating disorder in the city. His â€Å"Letter from Birmingham City Jail† which argued that individuals had the moral right and responsibility to disobey unjust laws, was widely read at the time and added to King’s standing as a moral leader. The demonstration forced white leaders to negotiate and end some form of segregation in Birmingham. Even more important, the protest encouraged many Americans to support national legislation against segregation. Martin Luther King Jr. and other black leaders organized the 1963 March on Washington, a massive protest in Washington, D.C, for jobs and civil rights. On August 28, 1963, King delivered the keynote address to an audience of more than 200,000 civil rights supporters. His â€Å"I Have a Dream† speech expressed the hopes of the Civil Rights Movement in oratory as moving as any in American history: â€Å" I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: â€Å" We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. â€Å" I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character†. The speech and the march built on the Birmingham demonstration to create the political momentum that resulted in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited segregation in public accommodations, as well as discrimination in education and employment. As a result of King’s effectiveness as a leader of the American Civil rights Movement and his highly visible moral and courage stance he was awarded the 1964 Nobel Prize for peace.

Notes On Life Greatest Treasure - 882 Words

Life Greatest Treasure 2. Why is this rickshaw driver from India so happy if he barely makes enough money to survive every day? The main reason I think this man is as happy as the average American, is because he does not know any other way of living. For example: people were happy before Ethernet existed, but now what happens if you take the Ethernet away from someone that has used the Ethernet? They will probably go mad. It doesn’t surprise how happy this person is, and I think hes the envy of a lot of people. He is strong, healthy and has a family that supports him. I have seen a lot of rich people that have all the money in the world, but they don’t have health, and they say they would give all their money for health if they could. 3. If I could rank my happiness from zero-ten (0 being not happy at all, and 10 being the happiest person in the planet). I would give myself a nine, because thanks to god I have everything I need. What do I need to reach a ten? 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