All The Pretty Horses Analysis

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2. The danger of idealism is one of the most prevalent themes throughout both The Moviegoer and All the Pretty Horses. Within each novel a separate search for idealism in a realistic world is carried out in the form of a quest. Both John Grady and Binx spent their days neglecting reality in favor of a lifestyle that is highly idealized. Without the groundwork that reality provides it is difficult for both men to find meaning in a life that has caused them to go astray from the responsibilities that they are supposed to uphold.
Binx Boiling has spent most of his life trying to find his identity through superficial experiences such as office flings and movie premieres. These are things that he best relates to in the world that he has been stuck …show more content…
Most of his identity and moral beliefs are built on the basis of the idealistic lifestyle that he is searching for. As his journey progresses through Mexico John Grady is unable to conform to the reality that is set before him due to his lack of control over his strong sense of duty to the things that he wants in life. This causes forces that oppose his idealist views to rise up in order to deter him from the path that he is walking. By refusing to recognize reality as what it truly is he is putting both himself and the others around him in danger of succumbing to excessive idealism. Through Alfonsa’s experience she tries to negate some of the innocent fantasies of John Grady so that he doesn’t end up like she almost did when she was a girl. John Grady doesn’t want the fear of reality to prevent him from doing as he desires. In order to combat this he adopts and enforces the idealistic outlook that he has built up over his lifetime. This causes for him to be blinded by the flawed reasoning of excessive idealism and neglectful of the consequences that follow it. When he is finally able to see reality as it truly is John Grady has lost everything, but instead has found …show more content…
Rather than face their problems head on both men choose to turn away from what is expected from them in favor of finding something better. Eventually Binx returns to what was expected of him and chooses to go to medical school like his family requests of him. John Grady on the other hand continues to pursue his idealistic outlook, but is now more aware of reality. Without the pressures of realistic expectations that are placed on each of the men by society they were unable to move forward in life due to unforeseen consequences. The incorporation of excessive idealism into their lives caused harm to not only themselves, but those around them as well. Had they not been so idealistic to the point in which they neglected realistic situations in their lives both Binx and John Grady may have been better
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