John Grady begins the novel as a teenage hopeless romantic with a deep, abiding respect for horses. He was raised by his grandfather and two Mexican women, Luisa and Abuela. In his parents’ absence, he learned everything about ranching from his grandfather, and he believes that it’s the only life worth pursuing. This puts him at odds with his mother, for whom he feels no particular loyalty.

Throughout the novel, John Grady is driven by an idealistic Belief in Virtue in a Compromised World: He looks out for Blevins, for example, despite the trouble it will cause him, and he frames most of his decisions around what he considers morally right, not what’s expedient or practical. Within this framework is the idea that love is worth pursuing and should be able to overcome any obstacle, which motivates his doomed romance with Alejandra.

The events of the novel have a profound effect on John Grady, as he is forced to reckon with the reality of the adult world and its grave consequences. His idealism about the clear distinctions between right and wrong isn’t broken by his experiences, but it is tested. John Grady ends the novel in a state of guilt over the choices he made: how they inadvertently hurt people he cared about, how they drove him to murder someone in self-defense, and how he was willing to kill the captain as a way of dealing with his inability to save Blevins.