The post-World War II boom that informs today's world has no place in Cormac McCarthy's All the Pretty Horses. The postwar optimism and suburban complacency common to other American works of this period do not appear in McCarthy's novel, populated as it is by characters such as Blevins whose "dad never comes back from the war" (64) and the father of John Grady who seemed “over the country with those sunken eyes, as if the world out there had been altered or made suspicious by what he had seen of it elsewhere” (23), presumably during the war. Instead of the modern urban environment, these characters seek solace in a less complicated world that is informed by an older cowboy ethic. This ethic is based on wild nature rather than artifice and natural landscape rather than civilization. McCarthy's relentless contrast between the call of the wild and the dangers of civilization merits a closer look at wilderness and the values ​​associated with it. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The novel opens immediately after the death of John Grady's grandfather. Grady's grandfather's authenticity and authority came from his stewardship of the wild world of the ranch. The reader's initial impression of the original 1866 ranch was that the grandfather dug it out of the earth, "a one-room hovel of sticks and wattle" (6). By exercising dominion over the ranch land, the grandfather achieved unity with the wild world. The grandfather's death denotes the loss of that wild world and drives the novel forward. Grady's brief forays into the civilized world prove unsatisfactory. Here contemporary society is exemplified by the lawyer's office and his mother's theatrical world. The lawyer's tools prove useless in retaking the ranch. His mother's world is so artificial that Grady can't even find her registered in hotels under his name. Grady's inability to connect with his mother is brought home when "the clerk turned and checked the records. He shook his head. No, he said. No Cole" (22). Disappointed, Grady is forced to seek the wild in Mexico. Immediately after these unsatisfactory encounters the most idyllic part of the novel begins. Grady, accompanied by Rawlins, immerses himself in the world of the journey to Mexico. Rawlins and Grady leave the complex world behind and “at dusk they could hear trucks on a highway in the distance” (32). After this separation, the dialogue between the two becomes laconic and is based on humorous understatement. Beautiful descriptions of the natural world take the place of complicated dialogue. In one of the few moments not shocked by the sense of impending doom, McCarthy tells us that Grady and Rawlins "left the river and followed the dry valley westward. The country was rolling and grassy and the day was cool in the sun" (34) . Such momentary optimism is only possible in the natural world, far from civilization. When Blevins enters the story, this dreamlike interlude ends abruptly. Blevins was damaged by the world, emotionally scared of his stepfather. He too seeks liberation in the wild world. However, despite his many talents - knight, marksman, survivor - Blevins' failure and ultimate death are caused by his inability to deal with the natural world. His separation from the natural world is emphasized during the storm when Grady asks him "Why can't you get out?" and Blevins replies “Because of the lightning” (67). One could never imagine Grady's grandfather allowing such fears to get the better of him. This fear of the natural world has serious short- and long-term consequencesterm for Blevins. In addition to the loss of his horse, he loses all ability to care for himself when floods wash away his clothes and gun. McCarthy highlights his inability to deal with the natural world as he "sat with his bare legs stretched out in front of him, but they looked so white and exposed lying on the ground that he seemed ashamed and tried to tuck them under him" (74). Despite his bravado and superficial ease in dealing with the natural world, Blevins' lack of authenticity gets to him immediately. not for Grady's kindness, he could have been sold to the Mexicans or bartered for wax. Once freed by Blevins, Grady and Rawlins enter the world of the Hacienda de Nuestra Seora de la Puresma Concepcin, "an eleven thousand hectare ranch located along the border of the Bolsn de Cuatro Cienagas in the state of Coahuila" (97). Their arrival at the Hacienda marks a return to both the natural and artificial worlds. Comparisons between Grady's grandfather and Don Hector Rocha y Villareal are inevitable. Both men's power comes from their authority over their land. Both are rooted in the history of their land. Grady quickly wins Don Hector's respect when he and Rawlins tame a small herd of three-year-old colts in as many days. This exercise of mastery emphasizes that a man's worth comes from his conquest of the wild. The tension of the battle between Grady and the horses is palpable and urgent. McCarthy tells us that,...before the colt could get up, John Grady had crouched on his neck and pulled his head up and to the side and was holding the horse by the muzzle with his long bony head pressed against him. his chest and the heat his sweet breath poured from the dark wells of his nostrils onto his face and neck like news from another world. They didn't smell like horses. They smelled like what they were, wild animals. He held the horse's face against his chest and he could feel along his thighs the blood pumping through the arteries and he could smell the fear and he put his hand over the horse's eyes and stroked them and he didn't stop talking to the horse in that moment. all, speaking in a low, steady voice and saying all that he intended to do and cupping the animal's eyes and chasing away the terror (103-104). This exercise in dominion over the wild world earns him an impressive promotion to rancher. Thanks to his ability to dominate the wild nature, Grady momentarily seems to be master of his world. This moment of mastery is short-lived as it brings Grady closer to the world of artifice in the form of Alejandra and Alfonsa. Alejandra's foreignness is evident because she rides English, wearing "riding breeches and a blue twill hacking jacket" (94). This stylized convention is foreign to Grady; although his love for her is beyond question, this foreign device warns the reader that trouble is sure to follow. Alfonsa's complex machinations trigger the subsequent incarceration of Rawlins and Grady. Once in prison, the boys are out of their league. Their cowboy ethic and mastery of the natural world are of little use in prison and they are only saved if they are "paid" (209) by Alfonsa. Released from prison, both Rawlins and Grady eventually return to Texas. McCarthy's description of the natural world seems disjointed: "the dead moon hung in the west, and the long flat shapes of the night clouds passed before it like a phantom fleet" (298). The wild world of the ranch has disappeared. Abuela's death severs Grady's last connection to that world. Rawlins asks, “Where is your country?” and Grady replies "I don't know where he is. I don't know what happens to the country" (299). This response calls into question Grady's purpose in the.