Curated set · answers marked
What leads sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole to leave Texas and head into Mexico at the start of the novel?
AHe is on the run after getting into a violent fight in town.
BFollowing his grandfather's death, his mother decides to sell the family ranch, leaving John Grady without a future there.✓
CHe is looking for his biological father, who vanished into Mexico years ago.
DA Mexican rancher recruits him to work as a horse trainer.
Rationale
After his grandfather passes away, John Grady's mother opts to sell the family ranch instead of keeping it. Confronted with the loss of the only life he has ever known and cherished, John Grady and his friend Lacey Rawlins embark on a horseback journey into Mexico, seeking a new frontier and a sense of purpose.
At the beginning of the novel, what event causes sixteen-year-old John Grady Cole to leave Texas and head south into Mexico?
AHe gets expelled from school for fighting.
BHis father passes away and the family ranch is sold without his consent.✓
CHe is arrested for stealing horses and escapes to avoid prison.
DHis best friend Rawlins challenges him to cross the border. His mother inherits the ranch but decides to sell it instead of continuing with ranching, leaving John Grady without the land and lifestyle he cherishes — the main motivation that drives the entire story forward.
Who is the main protagonist in All the Pretty Horses?
ALacey Rawlins
BJimmy Blevins
CJohn Grady Cole✓
DAlejandra
Rationale
John Grady Cole is a sixteen-year-old Texan whose quest into Mexico, following the loss of his family ranch, shapes the heart of the novel's story.