53 pages • 1 hour read
Cormac McCarthyA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
John Grady begins the novel as a teenage hopeless romantic with a deep, abiding respect for horses. He was raised by his grandfather and two Mexican women, Luisa and Abuela. In his parents’ absence, he learned everything about ranching from his grandfather, and he believes that it’s the only life worth pursuing. This puts him at odds with his mother, for whom he feels no particular loyalty.
Throughout the novel, John Grady is driven by an idealistic Belief in Virtue in a Compromised World: He looks out for Blevins, for example, despite the trouble it will cause him, and he frames most of his decisions around what he considers morally right, not what’s expedient or practical. Within this framework is the idea that love is worth pursuing and should be able to overcome any obstacle, which motivates his doomed romance with Alejandra.
The events of the novel have a profound effect on John Grady, as he is forced to reckon with the reality of the adult world and its grave consequences. His idealism about the clear distinctions between right and wrong isn’t broken by his experiences, but it is tested. John Grady ends the novel in a state of guilt over the choices he made: how they inadvertently hurt people he cared about, how they drove him to murder someone in self-defense, and how he was willing to kill the captain as a way of dealing with his inability to save Blevins.
By Cormac McCarthy
Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy
Child of God
Cormac McCarthy
Cities of the Plain
Cormac McCarthy
No Country for Old Men
Cormac McCarthy
Outer Dark
Cormac McCarthy
Stella Maris
Cormac McCarthy
Suttree
Cormac McCarthy
The Crossing
Cormac McCarthy
The Orchard Keeper
Cormac McCarthy
The Passenger
Cormac McCarthy
The Road
Cormac McCarthy
American Literature
View Collection
Books on Justice & Injustice
View Collection
Coming-of-Age Journeys
View Collection
National Book Awards Winners & Finalists
View Collection
National Book Critics Circle Award...
View Collection
School Book List Titles
View Collection
Sexual Harassment & Violence
View Collection
Westerns
View Collection