In "All the Pretty Horses," Cormac McCarthy portrays John Grady's unrealistic dream of living the life of a cowboy through the depiction of imagery that represents the destruction of the West. His decisive comparison of the landscape to death and darkness indicating no future for this era can be related to the modernization of technology today resulting in the loss of important human values. As he and Rawlins begin their quest initiated by the death of his grandfather, and continues with the murder of Blevins and the loss of Alejandra the failure to find his dream is never more evident as he rides away from Abuela’s funeral into the sunset alone. The description of Grady’s surroundings shows that his scenery has a powerful influence on his emotions and their outcome and his desperation to escape his present geography ends with a mental image as unforgiving and hopeless as the land he travels. As Cole and Rawlins begin their journey, McCarthy describes the sky to illustrate their anticipation of a new, but familiar life as a cowboy after his grandfather’s death and his mom sells the family ranch. As they rode into the night, the “earth was alone and dark the swarming stars were among them like young thieves in a glowing orchard” (McCarthy 30). This passage shows how the boys want to break away from their childhood world of darkness and the new horizon filled with stars represents hope and promise to them. Their frustration with their industrialized past is shown by the quote, “how the hell do they expect a man to ride a horse in this country?” (McCarthy 31) after dismounting many times to remove staples from each fence they encountered. McCarthy emphasizes the comparison of the land with darkness being left behind and the future of “lights being El Dorado” (McCarthy 32) as a beacon to a better way of life. McCarthy emphasizes the imagery used in describing the frontier and the horses as opposed to the lack thereof when