The journey from childhood to maturity is guided above all by the search for meaning. In All the Pretty Horses, protagonist John Grady Cole leaves home to find his place in the world. Throughout the novel, John Grady pursued the ideal vision of the ranch lifestyle instilled in him by his late grandfather, but was forced to reconcile his romantic dreams of the Wild West with a reality of violence and injustice who wasn't very nice to him. The sixteen-year-old young man leaves home in search of the answers he was always looking for but never managed to find at home, in his relationships with his ex-mother and his inadequate father. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay After Grady's grandfather died and his mother sold the ranch, he was forced to reexamine his future. He even goes so far as to visit his mother to see her perform in a play, but finds no response: "He thought there would be something in the story itself to speak to her in the way whose world was or was becoming, but there was none” (21). He may not get answers, but he knows that the kind of life his mother leads in San Antonio is not for him. He leaves home and finds solace in the familiar wilderness, adopting the rough cowboy lifestyle that stands in direct contrast to the modern industrialism he is fleeing. Eventually, Rawlins runs away from home with Grady for the sake of adventure and because there isn't much life for him in San Angelo. It becomes clear as the journey begins that instead of leaving out of a desire for the freedom of the cowboy lifestyle, Rawlins views his new lifestyle as a positive consequence of his decision to leave. It is a way of life that he “could get used to this life… It would take him no time at all” (35). He separates from Grady after finding the answers he wasn't looking for. During his time on the road, on the ranch, in prison, he realized that the path he was following was not leading him to the future he truly wanted. He spent much of the journey following Grady's lead even when they disagreed, but by the end he had matured through his trials and was able to define what he wanted. This change left Grady alone to search for all the answers to his questions, like why Alejandra let him go, how to live with his own guilt for another man's death, an explanation for the injustice of Blevins' death and the true owner of Blevins' horse. In finding these answers, Grady is confronted with a homeless worldview that forces him to grow up. Consequences are determined by each person's choices and free will rather than by destiny guiding man's actions. Throughout the novel, John Grady, Rawlins, and Alfonsa offer their own perspectives on the nature of free will and fate. Doubt and regret over his own choices lead Rawlins to wonder whether it is fate or free will that governs his future. He almost immediately questions his motivations for running away from home with his friend: "Well, suppose you're uncomfortable and you don't know why. Would that mean that you might be in a place you weren't supposed to be and didn't know "it?" His words appeal to a higher destiny, which is not fulfilled, as the source of his unease (37). He finds no support in Grady, who firmly believes that people make their own destinies. While contemplating the afterlife, Rawlins asks Grady if a person can believe in heaven if that person does not.