During adolescence, friends bring an intimate quality of support that can’t be provided by any adult. In the novel “All the Pretty Horses”, by Cormac McCarthy, John Grady Cole and Lacey Rawlins illustrate characteristics of a typically strong and supportive friendship but at some points also show some weaknesses. One prominent point in the novel where a good friendship is needed is at the jail. At a point when a person is faced with fear and death all around, they need a good friend they can trust and have watch their back.
They are both constantly attacked, and eventually are severely hurt. Even though they are potentially on their deathbed, they are both worried about the other. This shows the strong friendship that existed between the two. The ultimate friendship is when two people have the connection that exists between family members, when they would fight to the death for the other.
While John Grady Cole and Lacey have proven they have a strong friendship, Lacey proves that this extreme friendship doesn’t exist yet when he decides to leave John and go home. Almost all the readers can understand his actions. The two already went through a lot more then they expected, and Lacey had his life put on the line by John’s actions. So his actions aren’t exactly selfishness, but more of self-preservation. Nevertheless he is taking the chance of never seeing his friend again, which is clearly showing a blemish between the two’s tie.
Friends can share a lot of memories and help each other in time of need, but the majority of friendship are not perfect and do have weak points
