A brief comment on language and culture in All the Pretty Horses. Cormac McCarthy, in this first novel of the Border Trilogy, uses numerous Spanish words and phrases. Most often, these words are clear to the careful reader, because he either repeats the word in English or explains the meaning before or after he uses it in Spanish. However, many other instances of Spanish phrases are not explained by surrounding English text. In those instances, readers may succeed at trying to decipher the text by looking for clues in English. For example, at the beginning of Chapter I, John Grady, at this point still only identified as "he," says to the cook, "I appreciate you lightin the candle," and when she replies "Como?" (meaning "why?") he says, "La candela. La vela." Readers can infer from her use of "no" in one phrase and "antes" in a following one that someone else lit the candle, a "senora" who was up before her. ("Ante" is used to mean "before" in many English words. For example, an "antecedent" is a preceding event or condition.) Here is another example that is somewhat easier to decipher. In the beginning of Chapter II, when John Grady is negotiating with the manager of the hacienda to try to break the sixteen wild horses they have found in a pen, the reader understands that the Spanish words refer to the horses. The conversations before and after this brief meeting make it clear that the two young American cowboys are planning to break the horses in four days. Although readers may not know the direct translation of the Spanish, much of it is clear from the context of the surrounding English text. Keep in mind that All the Pretty Horses is set in west Texas and Mexico, so many of the characters, including John Grady, are bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish. All the Pretty Horses is written from a dual-cultural, if not multicultural, context; the language directs us to this point of view.
In addition to the Spanish terminology that may be unfamiliar to many readers, McCarthy uses cowboy terminology, especially references to specific kinds of tack (horse equipment). Names of plants and grasses of the southwest desert region are also found throughout the text. (In order to explain these phrases in more detail, a glossary is provided at the end of every Analysis section, for your reference.)
