All the Pretty Horses: Motifs 1 key example

The repeated use of this question makes it stand out, as do the similar answers. It seems to denote an apprehension in trying to chart one’s own fate and discomfort surrounding responsibility. The characters asking the question want someone else to lead the way, and those being asked the question appear to avoid that responsibility. Interestingly, the novel sets up responsibility as action here, always understood as a what a character “aim[s] to do.” It is something meant to be seized and wielded. 

This motif is only used early on in the book, perhaps indicating an initial fear of responsibility that John Grady leaves behind in subsequent chapters as he faces many challenges. After Part 1, he and Rawlins no longer ask each other this question. In Parts 2, 3, and 4, John Grady appears to be the de facto leader of the pair, so it's possible that he doesn't ask or answer this question because he is now too focused on making the right decision in the moment to waste time pondering and planning. John Grady's stubbornness may also play into the absence of the motif in later chapters. He rarely follows the advice of others and marches only to the beat of his own drum (for example, when he pursues Alejandra despite Alfonsa's warning in Part 2). After John Grady has brought so much trouble to Rawlins, perhaps he feels no need to ask his friend what he aims to do anymore: he knows that John Grady will do it anyway, regardless of anything anyone else says.