Is John Grady A Hero Or A Vigilante?

There is no need to always be in an agreement with the main character. Our opinions are developed from our own experiences and how we are were raised. Thus at times, we may not always be in an agreement with the main character. It is fine to have a different opinion. As for the opinion whether John Grady grows up, he does grow up to be tolerable of his emotions. This is seen after killing someone, being in a near death situation, in the court and in the judge's house. Is John Grady classified as a hero or a vigilante? Is he a hero in the terms set by society and cultured of this novel? John Grady is no hero in terms of definition of a hero. John Grady is a vigilante throughout this novel for time after time he has taken justice into his own

After falling in the penitentiary in Mexico, John Grady and Rawlins were forced into a environment to fight. John Grady encounter a deadly fight with another male in the penitentiary. During this fight, John Grady “brought his knife up from the front and sank it into the “cuchillero’s heart”(201). After such an event the first thing when John Grady does after putting an end to this man’s life is put his hand out to see what it would touch”(202). John Grady has no sense of feeling of what just happen. He understands that he has killed another being to live. However he is not phased by the action he chose. Usually one will be phased by killing another being. What this tells us about John Grady is that he is growing up to be someone who has firm eye on the goal in front of him. In this case John Grady was locked on surviving with Rawlins and leaving the

On the contrary the book portrays that John Grady is a hero. After leaving Rawlin and Alejandra, John Grady sets off to get his horse back as well as Rawlin’s horse back. He does this in a manner of threatening the captain in this town in Mexico. John Grady “put the gunbarrel in his ribs” in order to get into the facility to where the horses were being kept(262). Although what John Grady according to the culture in the book is attempting to put things to the way they are, in reality John Grady is breaking the law of the town. Thus John Gray is a vigilante, he is going outside of the town's law to administer justice. John Grady is following a different kind of Justice. His justice is to use force to accomplish his goals instead of talking things over. Although this is a situation were talking things can get him killed, it is without a doubt a better option than forcing yourself into a town where things are run differently. This a prime example of two types of justices colliding between one another. This is a border of what right and wrong. One justice works in the best interest of someone when another philosophy is to return what rightfully belongs to