46 pages • 1 hour read
Cormac McCarthyCities of the Plain
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Plain
The portrayal of the titular plain in the novel is an example of pathetic fallacy. Pathetic fallacy is a literary device in which inanimate objects and environments reflect the emotional state of the characters. The cowboys who populate the plain share many of its emotional qualities. The plain is sparse, brutal, and lonely. The cowboys who inhabit the land are sparse with their words, attuned to the violence of the land, and often lonelier than they would admit. The plain becomes an evocative echo of their emotional states that evolves and develops throughout the novel.
Despite the seemingly harsh conditions of the plain, life does find a way to thrive in the difficult environment. As such, the symbolic value of the plain becomes more nuanced as the narrative depicts more and more life in the environment. Like the hidden litter of wild dog puppies, the plain is home to a great deal of life. The wild dogs, the birds, and the other creatures are part of a vibrant ecosystem that hides within the apparent vastness of the environment. In the same way, the seemingly difficult lifestyles of the cowboys are rich and rewarding. They work hard, suffer, and feel lonely, but few would swap their jobs for anything else. Just as the seemingly empty plain is home to an unexpected amount of life, the lives of the cowboys are filled with a surprising amount of satisfaction and depth. Society dismisses the cowboys and the plain as empty and unimportant. The novel illustrates how, on closer examination, the plain is as symbolically alive as the lives of the men who inhabit it.
Nevertheless, the plain is prone to the changing conditions of the world. The plain is a cattle ranch at the beginning of the novel, but characters such as Mac are aware of the perpetual threat of losing the land. The military’s desire to take the territory is another tool of the political system and society that has alienated the cowboys. The potential repurposing of the land is a symbolic illustration of the limitations imposed on the characters’ way of life. They and the plain are victims of the modern world; they are relics of the past that cannot compete with the coming age. The plain, like the men, will be forced to change—the modern world takes over and subsumes everything. The potential disappearance of the plain is the symbolic demonstration of how the cowboys’ chosen way of life will not be able to endure modernity.
The Cabin
Mac’s ranch is spread across the harsh and barren plain, an environment stricken by drought. Out in the hinterlands of the plain is a small cabin that has become run down and desolate. At first, this cabin is a symbol of the declining fortunes of the plain. The place that was once a home to someone has fallen into ruin and is practically forgotten; the cowboys on the ranch are in the same situation, forgotten and abandoned in a rapidly changing world. Like the cowboys, the cabin has been left to endure the elements for too long. The cowboys can endure in niche corners of the country, but they no longer have a place in the modern world, just as the cabin is no longer fit for human habitation.
John Grady decides to renovate the cabin. As a cowboy, he is attuned to the situation faced by the rundown building. He renovates the property, bringing in furniture and appliances to build a life in a forgotten corner of the world. For him, the cabin is the ideal halfway spot between civilization and nature. He will be close to the world he loves while still providing a place for him and Magdalena to be happy. As John Grady begins to renovate the cabin, it evolves as a symbol. The rebuilt cabin symbolizes his renewed hope of building a life for himself with the woman he loves. His plans and ambitions for the future take hold in the cabin, and, as the reality of a habitable cabin becomes realized, the possibility for a real future with Magdalena feels within reach.
Fate has a different plan for John Grady. Though he pictured himself living in the cabin with Magdalena, they both are killed in tragic circumstances. The deaths of the people set to live in the cabin make it a symbol of what could have been. Like the life John Grady and Magdalena might have shared together, the cabin is abandoned. No one lives inside, and no hope remains for the ranch’s future. Eventually, everything is swallowed up by modernity and the changing world. The abandonment of the cabin provides a symbolic end for the era of the cowboys when even the best-natured and best-intentioned man cannot have a future on the plain.
Animals
Animals play a crucial role in Cities of the Plain, providing companionship, work opportunities, and sustenance for the men on the ranch. In addition, the presentation of the animals provides symbolic insight into the cowboy lifestyle. The most prevalent animals in the novel are horses. John Grady’s close bond with horses and Mac’s affinity for horse trading means that the cowboys’ lives depend on their ability to evaluate and bond with a horse. Men like Wolfenbarger have plenty of money but do not understand horses as Mac, Billy, and especially John Grady do. As such, Wolfenbarger spends money on useless or lame horses. A lack of understanding of horses is costly financially and emotionally, as the close bond between the men and their horses provides support in trying times. A character’s ability to bond with and understand a horse symbolizes their proximity to the cowboy lifestyle. Those who are best suited to working on the plain can understand horses. Those who cannot are symbolic outsiders—men who waste money, time, and effort without truly being a part of their environment.
The characters in the novel love their horses, but they depend on cattle for their livelihood. While the men are affectionate toward the horses they ride, they treat the cattle with an indifference more akin to the attitude they might take to the products made in a factory. They understand and respect cows, but they rarely love them. The cattle symbolize the sustainability of the men’s lifestyle. They are cowboys, and, as the name suggests, their job is dependent on the successful herding, rearing, and eventually slaughtering of cattle. They do not bond with the cattle in the same way they bond with the horses because the relationships are different. As long as the cows can profitably survive on the plain, then the men will continue to be cowboys. With modernity and lingering drought encroaching on the profitability and sustainability of cattle farming, cattle rearing is no longer viable. As the cattle vanish from the plain, so do the cowboys. The men may not love the cows, but they recognize that the dwindling herd symbolizes their dwindling prospects for the future.
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