Topic > Coming of Age in Red Sky at Morning and All The Pretty Horses

Red Sky at Morning and All the Pretty Horses by Richard Bradford and Cormac McCarthy are two novels that encompass a young man's coming of age experience. Through the use of the incurable wound, the group of companion hunters, the parent/child conflict, and the use of archetypal magical weapons, both young men become increasingly heroic, both in overcoming obstacles and in achieving the occasion of greatness.Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essayBoth Josh Arnold of Red Sky at Morning and John Grady Cole of All the Pretty Horses must endure or overcome a wound that is incurable for them. In Josh's case, this is the loss of his father: "The telegram, that damn telegram that shows up in all the war movies, was on the coffee table." (p. 245) This is when Josh and his family are informed of his father's death, he must put aside his grief and deal with his mother's problems: "When he woke up, late the next afternoon, my mother put her hands over her ears again and she didn't move. I found she hadn't bothered to get up to go to the bathroom, so I called Dr. Temple again. I signed something he gave me..." (page 245 ) Although Josh has not recovered from the loss of his father, and really does not recover, he becomes more heroic as he must persevere and fight his loss to care for his mother and take care of his urgent needs All the Pretty Horses experiences a similar experience of losing someone and getting over them: “He saw very clearly how his whole life only led to this moment and everything after led nowhere like another being and she imagined it was smiling evilly and she had no reason to believe it would ever leave. (pg. 254) It is then that Alejandra tells him that she cannot marry him; he is heartbroken and thinks his life cannot be complete without her, even as he triumphs and overcomes the pain and through this forward movement of life becomes more heroic. In both novels, Josh and John Grady have a group of hunting companions who they defend sometime in the book, their defense making them more heroic. John Grady Defends Blevins to Rawlins, "You Mean Just Leave Him (Blevins)?" said John Grady. “Yes sir,” Rawlins said. "What if it was you?" …. “I can't do it, said John Grady (p. 79). Although Blevins has caused them trouble in the past, and is certainly about to get them into trouble right now by stealing their horse, John Grady defends him from Rawlins. This defense of Blevins towards his best friend requires some common sense, and John Grady becomes increasingly heroic because of it. Rawlins could have laughed in John's face, a fact John knew, and still defended the underdog for doing what was honorable. Josh also has to have an uncomfortable conversation with someone to defend a friend,” Chango said: 'Viola? Amigo, you're crazy (in reference to Josh who saw her in La Cimajkpg (198). Although Chango was a changed person and intent on doing good, Josh didn't know how he would react to the news, but he told her so to protect Viola, through this Josh becomes a hero and learns that the honorable thing is not always the easy thing. Another similarity that Josh and John Grady share is the parent/child conflict that makes them become stronger as an individual she's very drunk one night and Josh has to overcome her treatment of him to take care of his mental health: “After five or six shots, I realised, in a detached and lucid way, that I wasn't angry anymore, just bored So in the end I have.