The On The Pretty Horses, The Gift Of Cochise, And The Martian

“The Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers, and the Rush to Colorado” Written by Elliott West. I chose to write about this book because of the large range of events and transitions that occurred throughout the American West that the author includes in the text. Elliot West highlights the struggles that many endured while trying to create better circumstances for not only themselves but also their families by moving to the west. He chronicles the adaptations that many white settlers arriving in the west faced in order to be able to make a living for themselves. But another reason why I found the book interesting was because of the way Elliot West provided perspective for each side of the struggle over the American West. He gives us the

What Turner wants to point out here is that the American West is the most important feature of American history, and of the development of its society. He refers several times to a process of “Americanization” and we will see that the definition he gives of it is a very peculiar one. He gives a definition of the frontier: “it lies at the hither edge of free land”, meaning that he considers the Indian territory to be free land. According to him the frontier is the “meeting point between savagery and civilization”, “the most rapid and effective Americanization”. The process of Americanization he refers to is in fact a double

John Grady is not your average cowboy. All the Pretty Horses is not your typical coming-of-age story. This is an honest tale. Cormac McCarthy follows John Grady as he embarks on his journey of self-discovery across the border. Armed with a few pesos in his pocket, a strong horse and a friend at his side, John Grady thinks he’s ready to take on the Wild West of Mexico. At their final steps in America, a stranger, aged thirteen, joins our heroes. This unexpected variable named Blevins challenges John Grady, testing his character and pushing him to uncomfortable limits. The dynamic of their relationship reveals John Grady’s capacity to care for others as he shelters this kid from the hardships of reality and the

Faragher, John Mack. Re-reading Frederick Jackson Turner: “The Significance of the Frontier in American History”

The demonstration to live the dream through rejection happens more than once in All the Pretty Horses. As a new chapter opens in the life of John Grady, an oasis seems to appear in the middle of the desert, or in the middle of the darkness. This oasis is many things for John Grady. Physically, it is Hacienda, the ranch. As a person, it is Alejandra, his future lover. Emotionally, it is hope and optimism

Grady believes Rawlins was destined to be born to his parents. Yet, his own dreams seek to defy his destiny. John allows his dreams to navigate his journey into the west and transition from his destiny of living as a Texas teenager. John Grady is destined to live his life in Texas, without his family ranch.

There are many ways in which we can view the history of the American West. One view is the popular story of Cowboys and Indians. It is a grand story filled with adventure, excitement and gold. Another perspective is one of the Native Plains Indians and the rich histories that spanned thousands of years before white discovery and settlement. Elliot West’s book, Contested Plains: Indians, Goldseekers and the Rush to Colorado, offers a view into both of these worlds. West shows how the histories of both nations intertwine, relate and clash all while dealing with complex geological and environmental challenges. West argues that an understanding of the settling of the Great Plains must come from a deeper understanding, a more thorough

The traditional western hero has so closely synonymized itself with the image of the rugged, horse-riding, cowboy hat wearing, gun shooting white man, that a fearful wife and mother appears entirely antithetical to the very notion of the frontier hero. Yet, Louie L’amour adeptly crafts his western hero out of the very same aforementioned traits through his character Angie in The Gift of Cochise. Angie’s logical, pragmatic, and calculated actions, because of her role as a wife and mother, allow her to successfully advance westward and settle in Apache territory as the rightful western hero of the story. While various male characters attempt dutifully to satisfy Turner’s hypothesis of advancement westward, their reckless approach to the

According to Turner, through America’s conquest of the frontier, the cultural traits of Americans could be credited to the directly to the land and “that coarseness and strength combined with acuteness and acquisitiveness; that practical inventive turn of mind, quick to find expedients; that masterful grasp of material things... that restless, nervous energy; that dominant individualism"(Turner 34). While on the other side of the argument, Pierson believed that traits of modern Americans such as democracy and individualism had already existed in other parts of the world, and the frontier itself had not created whole new theories and ways of

In 1893, at the 400th anniversary of the appearance of Columbus in the Americas celebrated in Chicago , Frederick Jackson Turner presented an academic paper entitled, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” In this essay, Turner proposes that, “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development.” The group dynamic that Turner champions is the farmer. More directly it is white, male farmers. While the expansion of the west by white male farmers was a factor in the development of America, it is not the only explanation for this progression. Turner fails to incorporate all of the demographics present during this expansion which were essential to the evolution of America.

Prior to the nineteenth century, Americans had no real unique identity and were still widely regarded as European, however with the rise of the Romantic era, America began to retain an identity based on the idea strong moral compass, God ordained expansion, and reverence of nature, making the ideal American a frontiersman. Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of the Louisiana Territory in 1806 was a momentous turning point in American history as it is considered by many historians to be the onset of the Romantic movement. The Louisiana Purchase more than doubled the size of the United States. This huge expanse of land caused a dramatic shift from the highly-coveted mindset of rationalism to the ideas of romanticism. As new land, yet to be contaminated by mankind, was readily available for all Americans, people quickly began to venture west. As they traveled, a new sense of nature arose among Americans, one where the wilderness was divine, sublime and awe-inspiring. These ideas that help define the new American man are best presented in the abundant literature, artwork, and historical events littered throughout the 19th century. James Fennimore Cooper’s The Deerslayer is just one of these many pieces of work. The Deerslayer is a unique literary work as t it was one of the first fictional books written in the United States. Despite the fact that it is not a true story, it conveys a great deal of information about American society during the time period. The main character of Cooper’s

The idea or lifestyle of a cowboy can be perceived in different ways. Focusing on the book “All The Pretty Horses” a young man, John Grady leaves his home to live the life as a migrant cowboy, with his companion Rawlins. In the movie “The Searchers”, a man John Wayne goes on a journey to find his living relatives and is seen as a “cowboy”. The typical American cowboy can be stereotyped in numerous variations and romanticized. It is seen in “All The Pretty Horses” and “The Searchers” common themes and opposing ideas of the “cowboy” that can be found.

After years of controversy between the North and the South concerning the issue of slavery, attention was turned towards the West as a new era of adventure and traditions started to evolve. During the late 1870’s until the 1890’s, an era in time also known as the “Wild West Era”, a culture embracing cowboys and their jobs, families, as well as, enemies became the new important topic of the time. One can see the main characteristics of the Western settlements through Charles Siringo narration describing his life as a cowboy. Specifically, from his nomadic lifestyle and coming close to death from the harsh environmental conditions such as cold winters or getting shot from the pistol battles that often occurred. Through his stories in A Texas

During the early to mid nineteenth century, the new Americans expanded their territories westward and developed four new territories: Texas, Oregon, Utah, and California. Explorers, traders and trappers pushed into the unknown lands before settlers. These men were tremendously tough in body and mind. They learned Indian survival methods in the wild, and could stand months of isolation. Trappers, or “mountain men” were the most independent of all the frontiersmen; loners who had turned their back on settled life. It was their stories of trails and passes through mountains that helped government explorers to map the new lands properly.

Another significant piece of “The Leather Stocking Tales” is the blending cultures displayed that illustrate the frontier. In the movie, “The Last of the Mohicans”, one of the beginning scenes shows a cabin, and similarly to the one discussed earlier, represents peace and the blending of society. Although it symbolizes the same ideas, the course in which it does so is contrasting. In this scene, the cabin is full of life. Women, children, Mohican natives, and white men are all around a table in the small building. Within the cabin, the different groups of people speak their own languages, yet are able to get along well together regardless. This is crucial to showing the colonial frontier as compounding, proving that different societal groups can mix. Furthermore, as the cabin is surrounded by nature, it proves that nature can be used as a resource to society and that both nature and society can coexist. This is only true for as long as neither one is destructive toward the other, and since such simplicity and harmony is impossible, one must eventually dismantle the other.