The horse scenes add detail and interest to the story and provide a setting for the development of John Grady’s character. The first time John Grady and Rawlins go into the mountains to catch horses, the old man who accompanies them recounts his own history and how he fought in the cavalry where his father and brothers had died. He tells them of the horses killed under him and how horses love war, just like men do. He says the souls of horses mirror the souls of men, explaining that if you could understand the soul of a horse, one could understand all horses, but that to understand human beings is probably only an illusion. John Grady also is tutored in the ways of horses by Antonio, the one who helps with the breeding of the mares. Antonio, too, has many ideas about horses and tells John Grady he never lies to the stallion.
The section of the chapter that deals with the breeding of the horses and John Grady’s riding of the chestnut stallion leads to the love affair with Alejandra.
John Grady loves to look over the wild mares and pick out the best ones for the shape of their heads, the strength of their legs, and the shape of their hindquarters. He dreamed of producing the best horses for cutting or cattle work, for endurance, and, hopefully, for beauty. What becomes clear from this chapter that highlights the “pretty horses” is that John Grady is exceptionally talented with horses. He rides better than most, as Rawlins has pointed out before, he understands horses, as Rocha observes, and he can very successfully work with horses. Of course, his love of horses is undisputed. He is only 16 years old, but he knows more about the history of horses than most of the other characters in the book, with the exception of Rocha, perhaps. We realize John Grady learned much of this from his grandfather and that during World War II, with other men and his father gone to war, he was, as a young boy, his grandfather’s main cowboy.
If the commonality between characters and cultures is a love of horses, the clash of cultures and individuals can also be revealed through the horses. When John Grady says the one thing the wild horses have going for them is that they have not been ridden by the Mexicans, and when he refers to those “damned Mexican ringbits,” the reader may wonder if a certain prejudice is being called up. For background on this, an analysis of American western-style riding techniques versus English and Spanish techniques may be helpful.
The “damned ringbit” referred to is a spade bit with a ring that fits around the lower jaw of the horse. It is a very cruel bit by United States western standards. But the experienced, old vaqueros use the ringbit this way: First, they train a young horse with a bosalea, a rope noose that gently fits over the nose but has knots that can put pressure on nerves under the horse’s chin and at the side of the mouth. Then, using a second set of reins, they attach the ringbit. When riding the horse, they use the bosalea reins first to correct the horse. If the horse misbehaves, they then use the reins of the ringbit. The ringbit’s main flaw is that, when it is used with a heavy hand, it can break the horse’s jaw.
This double-rein method is similar to the double reins used in English riding where the rider uses a tighter double rein to control and signal the horse to change lead or gait. In Western riding, the horse is almost entirely guided with voice commands, leg pressure, and neck reining — where the rein is gently laid on the horse’s neck to get it to turn right or left. The well-trained Western horse, even in roping competitions, needs no pulling on the bit. The bit is there only for control if the horse should, because of some unexpected happening, do the wrong thing. Then a little pull gets the animal back on course.
The difference in philosophy is that in Western riding, horse and rider are partners who know the job to be done and work together to do it. The horse takes its cue from the rider and vice versa. In English riding, the rider is more the controller, the one in command. The Spanish riding technique is a combination of these two styles.
The Americans and Mexicans have different training techniques and, perhaps, different philosophies about civilizing the horses. Of these three methods, none is superior or inferior.
The scene in which John Grady and Rocha play billiards, John Grady having told Don Hector that he plays “pool,” tells us more about the attitudes of different cultures. Don Hector says that it is a very French idea “that people can be improved in their character by reason.” He continues, “Beware, gentle knight. There is no greater monster than reason.” He tells John Grady that this idea is a Spanish one, the idea of Quixote. Here it is reason versus feeling, the classic view versus the romantic.
And where does John Grady stand in all of this? McCarthy’s work proposes, perhaps, that Americans are neither creatures of reason nor romance, but survivors who risk much and can take actions that appear romantic, but that, all the while, they are committed to their own ideas and ideals; the European tradition is often more deductive and traditional, not as ready to leap to the new, as the American individualist often does. John Grady’s work with the horses reveals that he uses reason and control to tame the animals — in the sidelining method. But he has a habit of talking to them and soothing them, and that comes from another idea about nature — that humans can understand horses, can commune with these creatures for better cooperation. This idea is a more romantic one. But it is the goal John Grady is focused on — to get these horses greenbroke — and he uses all his knowledge, his experience, and any technique that he thinks may work. He is eclectic and creative in how he approaches a problem. This is the American way — solve the problem and forget the rulebook or the blueprints. These American attributes come from the whole history of the United States: the American Revolution, the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the entire struggle for equality, and the development of the frontier. John Grady is definitely a classic American hero, in all his sensibilities.
Another clash of culture is revealed when the great-aunt plays chess with John Grady. He is a worthy opponent and she admires his abilities. But, in conversation, she discusses the role of women in society: “This is another country. Here, a woman’s reputation is all she has.” She adds, “There is no forgiveness. For women. A man may lose his honor and regain it again. But a woman cannot.” John Grady tells her he doesn’t think this is fair, indicating the importance that fairness plays in his way of looking at the world. But she dismisses that with a wave of her hand and tells him, “It is a matter of who must say.” In other words, power is more important than right. John Grady, Quioxotian in his idealism, understands what she says, but he is not about to change his ideas.
Alejandra is a young woman obviously rebellious like John Grady. She is perhaps even more brash than he is, for it is she who initiates their love affair. But this liberated endeavor is to be allowed by the great-aunt. The great-aunt is determined that Alejandra will not be unhappy as she was in her youth. The reader might also wonder if, because the aunt had an unhappy youth, she does not wish to see Alejandra happy in love — something that would only remind her of what she did not have when she was young.
Even though the great-aunt has lived a life of sophistication and ease, teaching in Europe and living, apparently, where she pleases, she has not been able to have a satisfying life. In her short-sightedness, she is determined to mold Alejandra to her likeness, to exercise the control over Alejandra’s life that she never had over her own. Unfortunately, she does not have the wisdom to see that happiness is not always found through reason and control, and it certainly is not something the elders can give to the young. In contrast, we see the portrait of John Grady’s mother, the American, a generation between the great-aunt and Alejandra, living a liberated life of sorts. Whether she is happy or not we do not know. But she is allowed to make her own way, neither her father nor her husband forbidding or preventing her from making her own choices.
Obviously, the gender issues are not solved in this novel, but, although only a minor theme, these issues do affect John Grady’s life. His unusual youth, partly abandoned by his natural mother, and yet well cared for by the old Abuela and Luisa, played a part in shaping his attitudes. The ideas he developed about the position of women in society certainly affect the outcome of his romance at La Purisima. Strangely, Don Hector laments that he is only a father and will not have a say in what Alejandra must do. In Spanish culture, as related to European Mediterranean culture, women have the power in the house and men have total power in the public arena. This separation between public and private life is different from the traditions in the United States. Also, the fact that Mexico is a Catholic country and the United States a Protestant one by tradition, makes the position of women in the two countries quite different. As in all cultures, before women’s rights, women manipulate and use what wiles they have to get what they want. The great-aunt is interesting in light of these observations, because she has not been able to really create or direct her own life to her own satisfaction at all. She has been bound by tradition and sent to Europe. Contrast this with John Grady’s mother, of whom no one is very fond, but she has led her own life and made her own way in the theatrical world. John Grady, thus, coming from another culture, does not understand that, in the end, Alejandra will not run away with him. He doesn’t think that the situation is fair, and, far from his point of view, he thinks it is old-fashioned. But he does not yet comprehend how different his history is from Alejeandra’s. He is drawn to Spanish culture, but he is American.
Comparison and contrast of the human relationships and the horses’ situations make for interesting insight here. The youths, John Grady and Alejandra, are passionately in love and John Grady is working with the hot-blooded horses. But the adults who are inspecting and observing the youths do not seem to take as much care with their human futures as John Grady does with the horses. When the great-aunt shows him an unusual chess move, he says he’d like to see it again, but of course she will never invite him back; she has only looked him over to certify her preconceived notions of what she wants for Alejandra. The father, who is so careful with his animals, takes no action on his daughter’s behalf. There is no education, no training for the young people from the most educated adults. Only the old vaqueros try to impart some wisdom to John Grady. And is anyone trying to impart any helpful knowledge to Alejandra? No wonder their love story is doomed like Romeo and Juliet’s.
