I found one of the more interesting points that we discussed on Wednesday to be the character of Blevins, the relationships between him, John Grady, and Rawlins, and his significance as a foil in All the Pretty Horses. As we all tried to find a black and white way as to how Blevins foils John Grady and Rawlins, it became apparent that there wasn’t any. As opposed to Ralph, Piggy, and Jack in Lord of the Flies, there is no continuum of western extremes to apply to John Grady, Rawlins, and Blevins. Autumn Biddle noted that the simple conversations between John Grady and Rawlins emphasized their friendship where as the tension between Rawlins and Blevins demonstrates their mere toleration of one another. I agree with her thought and would like to complete the triangle of relationships by saying that although Blevins tends to be stubborn and cause trouble for the other two boys, John Grady demonstrates a sense of sympathy for Blevins. On page 79, Rawlins tries to convince John Grady to leave Blevins behind while they have the chance. John Grady replies, “I wouldn’t leave you and you wouldn’t leave me.” The fact that John Grady is concerned about Blevins after knowing him only for a short while confirms that although he has his heart set on being a rugged cowboy, that heart is kind.
If Blevins is the ultimate western cowboy complete with a gorgeous horse and expert shooting skills and John Grady is more of the western hero holding onto but slowly letting go of civilization then Rawlins would be expected to be the character completely against riding off into the distance. However, much like Katherine said, Rawlins is not that extreme. He may be the voice of reason, continually trying to send Blevins home so he and John Grady don’t get killed, but he never suggests that they go home themselves. Sure he may just be on this journey for the support of his friend, but he isn’t opposed to sleeping under the starts and hunting his own food.
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