Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy: Solitude and self-realization in Mexico and the West
Screenshot from the movie “No country for old men”
When life breaks through, we realize that we are living a life, not playing a role on someone else’s stage. We are not only ourselves, but also our circumstances, and these circumstances give meaning to our lives. We are, in this sense, prisoners at liberty.
Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy, centered on this theme, creates emergent meaning for the protagonists of “All the Pretty Horses,” “The Crossing” and “Cities of the Plain” as they initially act, then interact as players in overlapping dramas, in which self and circumstances struggle with freedom and constraint, with solitude and solidarity hiding in the shadows. A quest in life beyond the pale.
Life breaks through for John Grady Cole, protagonist of “All the Pretty Horses,” the first novel of the trilogy, when his grandfather dies, leaving the ranch to his mother, who intends to sell it. This marks an existential disruption in 16-year-old Grady’s planned future. A cowboy at heart, he consults with a lawyer and discovers that circumstances have changed beyond his control. The ranch will be sold, and he must find new meaning in life. This and a number of other circumstances will challenge Grady in the constitution of his identity.
John Grady is bilingual, as is Billy Parham, protagonist of “The Crossing.” The combined use of Spanish and English throughout the trilogy adds realism to the disruptive narrative detailing their cross-border culture and experiences. Grady crosses the border from Texas, Billy from New Mexico, then together in the last of the novels. Grady and Billy are not the only ones who cross borders. McCarthy also crosses literary boundaries, ignoring traditional grammar and punctuation, a technique that enables him to speed up or slow down the pace of the tales and draw the reader into a hyper-realistic narrative, emphasizing the role of surroundings and circumstances. Few novelists govern language with such aplomb.
The death of the grandfather constitutes a major disruption that complicates the varying circumstances of the novel. There are generational disruptions as well, on both sides of the border. On the American side, the effects of industrial change, World War II and the collapse of ranching and the style of the Old West. On the Mexican side, the effects of the Mexican Revolution, increased poverty in isolated areas, government corruption and the complicated state of the culture of haciendas within a disrupted national culture. The past becomes present on both sides of the border as Grady crosses over with his friend Lacey Rawlins, going they know not where. For both young men, the foray across the border is quixotic, a search for who knows what in a play that has no script.
Grady sees himself as a cowboy and a horse trainer, central to what he sees as his role in life. Horses are central to the novel. They set the stage for the journey to a new frontier, form a backbone of the shared frontier culture and open possibilities for work at the hacienda where he becomes valued for his ability to train horses for working cattle. On the journey across the border, Grady and Rawlins are joined by a younger boy, whom Rawlins does not accept but tolerates, only to placate Grady. Grady’s reaction to support the younger boy is emotional, and constitutes a choice that shapes his future in a negative way, not only in his relationship with Rawlins but in other relationships central to the novel. The younger boy, Blevins, loses his horse, and this plays a role in the drama of Grady’s capture and imprisonment, along with Rawlins, and the murder of Blevins.
In this narrative, there is no cause and effect, only circumstances, physical, social, cultural and relational. Life breaks through at critical boundaries. Critical boundaries again occur at the hacienda where Grady and Rawlins are employed. Grady is recognized for his unique talents by Hector Rocha, the owner of the hacienda. However, when Grady falls in love with his daughter, Alejandra, the importance of matriarchy emerges in the persona of her great aunt. In an important scene, Grady engages her in a game of chess. The great aunt uses the chess match to reveal to Grady that she has no intention of sanctioning a relationship between him and Alejandra, challenging Grady to understand that she is in control. He does not answer some questions truthfully, strengthening the resolve of Alejandra’s aunt. He creates, without realizing it, a new set of circumstances in which Grady and Rawlins will be taken prisoners, united with Blevins, then sent to prison in Saltillo.
Grady and Rawlins confront new realities and circumstances while in prison, dealing with a corrupt “inmate” who has power and control, who comes and goes and who may not even be legally incarcerated. Rawlins and Grady are wounded in knife fights. Grady kills his attacker and, when they fear for the worse, they are released and given an envelope filled with money. Alejandra’s great aunt has made a deal with her, exacting a promise to break her relationship with Grady in return for his liberty. Rawlins catches a bus and heads for Laredo. Grady is at liberty but a prisoner of himself. He centers on what his life will be, seemingly unaware of the effect of his choices on both Blevins and Rawlins.
He returns to the hacienda, has a long conversation with the aunt, becomes aware of the historical circumstances that have led her to become what she is, and comes to understand that his “two lies” have been assimilated by her, confirming her decision to make sure he would have no lasting relationship with Alejandra. Geographical boundaries may be crossed, but cultural boundaries create much more complicated circumstances. Grady does succeed in getting together with Alejandra in Zacatecas, but must accept, after enjoying each other’s love, that their separation will be forever.
His determination now focuses on recovering his horses and taking revenge on the captain who took him prisoner and killed Blevins. He achieves both objectives, taking the captain prisoner, then having him taken by three strangers in the night, who give him a blanket in exchange. The narrative ends with Grady and the horses back in Texas. Rawlins recovers his horse and Grady, after attending the funeral of Abuela, the family maid, mounts his horse and rides west, a castaway from the south of the border, and a castaway from his ranch, self-realized in solitude, the awareness of death, his being defined by what lies in store in the future.