Cormac McCarthy
No Country for Old Men is a book about right and wrong. Good and Evil. A man finds $2,000,000 and goes on the run around America from bounty hunters and savage killers who want his money. Through this text Cormac McCarthy shares his views on modern society compared to older times and how the perspectives of good and bad have changed.
Cormac McCarthy uses characterization to show how the perspective of how right and wrong is more open to interpretation in modern times. He does this with the character, Ed Tom Bell. He characterizes Bell as a good American cop and sheriff who protects his country from evil criminals and holds up the law. Bell is a symbol for good.
McCarthy then presents a contrasting character called Chigurh, a savage killer who will stop at nothing to get to the money. Chigurh will kill anyone who is even a minor inconvenience to him. In No Country for Old Men, Chigurh is a symbol for bad.
At the beginning of the book (set in the 1980s), there is clear distinction between the morals of Chigurh and the morals of Sheriff Bell. As the book progresses, McCarthy distorts the characters to show how they can be open to interpretation. McCarthy shows Sheriff Bell as a person who has lost his morals and has become a corrupt officer. He admits that drug suppliers are closer to the police than people think. Furthermore, McCarthy suggests that this corruption in more common in modern times and so the line between good and bad is not as clear now.
McCarthy uses further characterisation to show how good and bad are not absolute by changing the way people think about Chigurh, the killing machine. The author uses another character, bounty hunter Wells, to show you could interpret Chigurh differently. Wells poses an opposite viewpoint and instead of fearing Chigurh like all other people, he instead pities him for the fact that he has the mindset that he has to kill everyone who gets in his way. Wells shows how bad can be open to interpretation.
The idea of good and bad being less distinguishable in modern times enabled me to think about how it has changed. In the case of Chigurh, the unremorseful killer, increased awareness of mental disorders means that people may no longer blame the person and will instead blame the disorder. This was interesting because if people blame something on a disorder, less responsibility is put on the person for their action and this could encourage people to do bad things and use mental issues as an excuse. This made me think about how in court you can get less time if you can prove that you had a mental problem. This disturbed me because it made me wonder if it is the fault of people who are murderers or a mental condition. Can we blame a disorder, or is it just the person. Are they separate. I believe so because there are institutions to cure these people from their mental issues and these institution must work because otherwise they wouldn’t exist.
This book also made me question my morality and viewpoint towards these people. On one level I feel sorry because maybe they cannot control their actions. On another level, I am repelled by the things Chigurh did.
This book also gave me insight into how good may change over time and how we view good in modern times. Cops and Sheriffs like Ed Tom Bell were once always considered good as they were seen as serving the community. These days however, cops are not always seen in the same way. This can be seen in recent events such as negative attitudes towards the National Security Agency (NSA) and the surveillance on Americans. This action is not seen as good by the public, despite the fact it is from an organisation that is meant to protect Americans. Corruption in the police force has also made people question how good police actually are. In countries where cops are paid less, becoming corrupt may seem more inviting than protecting the community. The rise of social media and Youtube has meant stories about cops abusing their power are more common as cops can be recorded. In ancient times, the cops had the last word but today that is not as true.
The title “No Country for Old Men” could also suggest this idea of how good and bad are perceived over time. I believe the title suggests that old men who once built “America” would no longer recognise it and would instead fall victim to the violence and corruption.
No Country for Old Men enabled me to think about how the line between right and wrong has become distorted and what it means for us living in society today where we have to make calls on whether something is good or bad. I believe this idea is important because we need to retain our moral conscience to make decisions and if this line is not clear enough, we may make the wrong decision. The line between right and wrong is important because people need it to uphold human rights in our society.
Tim Armstrong
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