What does rain represent?

Question

All the Pretty Horses

What does rain represent?

I just finished part 3 of the novel. And at the ending of part 3 where Grady and Rawlins went their separate ways, I noticed it rained, a lot.

For example...

Pg. 208 "all was gray and still. A few drops of rain had begun to fall in the street."

"They crossed slowly to the portals on the north side of the square and stood looking out at the rain."

"The streets were wet from the rain"

So, I was wondering what the rain symbolized.

Asked by Education is Divine! on 1/4/2015 12:02 AM

Last updated by Education is Divine! on 1/4/2015 1:47 AM

Answers 2

Add Yours

Answered by Aslan on 1/4/2015 12:18 AM

Rain and water, to a larger extent, pervade the novel. Consider the storm scene:  “The rain was coming down in sheets. Blevins’ horse stood in the downpour like the ghost of a horse. They left the road and followed the wash up toward the stand of trees and took shelter under the barest overhang of rock…the lightning cracked and the wind tore through the acacia and paloverde and the rain went slashing down the country. They head a horse running somewhere out in the rain and then they just head the rain” (70-71) I think rain is an extension of the cleansing water of nature. This however is not a human based cleansing rather than nature's indifferent cleansing of the world. Rain brings a new kind of chaos to the narrative. It is chaos and cleansing that is not gentle. It often introduces nature’s indifferent chaos or foreshadows darker things to come where again nature will look indifferently upon the lives of these characters.

Answered by Education is Divine! on 1/4/2015 1:47 AM

so is the rain like a omen of disaster?

Answers 2

Log In To Your GradeSaver Account

Create Your GradeSaver Account