The novel “No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy is unforgettable, largely due to its memorable quotes. The characters in the book offer interesting and profound statements, often encapsulating their life philosophies or providing observations about life in general. From Sheriff Bell’s introspective monologues, which serve as a running commentary on the story and its world, to Chigurh’s deadpan deliveries, to Wells’ rational arguments, the characters provide words that reveal something about themselves and offer deep insights into the world around them.
Fate
Fate plays such a dominant role in “No Country for Old Men” that one character, Chigurh, personifies the hand of fate through the narrative. Unpredictable and overwhelming, fate is presented as a dramatized argument that there is a factor in our lives that we can’t prepare for and must face head-on.
Anything can be an instrument. Small things. Things you wouldn’t even notice. They pass from hand to hand. People don’t pay attention. And then one day there’s an accounting. And after that nothing is the same.
Chigurh to gas station attendant; Chapter 2
Chigurh says this to the gas station attendant when he uses a coin toss to decide whether to kill the attendant or not. This statement represents how little events easily ignored by people can have a huge significance on their lives. Because small events of significance are missed, fated outcomes come as a surprise.
The prospect of outsized profits leads people to exaggerate their own capabilities. In their minds. They pretend to themselves that they are in control of events where perhaps they are not.
Anton Chigurh to drug-dealing boss; Chapter 9
Anton says that when he returns the money he has recovered, he seems to be speaking about the greed of the individuals who have been connected with the money since the failed drug deal. In making plans and calculating odds in their favor, people tend to overestimate their degree of control over their lives.
People complain about the bad things that happen to ‘em that they don’t deserve but they seldom mention the good. About what they done to deserve them things.
Sheriff Bell’s monologue; Chapter 4
Sheriff Bell makes a general observation about how, for the most part, people’s lives move on nicely because good things happen to them. They only complain when bad things happen, which makes it appear as if they are unfortunate. He says that occurrences are neutral and happen to everyone without bias. People report them unfairly.
If the rule you followed led you to this of what use was the rule?
Chigurh to Wells; Chapter 6
When Anton Chigurh corners Carson Wells and is about to kill him, he asks him this. It questions Wells’ whole life perspective, his belief that everything could be negotiated and reasoned out. Wells’ philosophy is called into question as he fails to kill Chigurh as predicted, does not keep his promise to Moss, and falsely assures the motel receptionist that the killer will not return.
Change
Cormac McCarthy juxtaposes a world of the past, represented by Sheriff Bell, where a moral code is a standard for behavior, against the current age where all standards are suspended, and characters act as they please. This creates the novel’s central tension, and this lack of moral values produces the destructive violence that results in the story.
Ninety percent of the time. It takes very little to govern good people. Very little. And bad people cant be governed at all. Or if they could I never heard of it.
Sheriff Bell’s musing; Chapter 3
Sheriff Bell says this, alluding to how the old moral order made for a society of good citizens where keeping law and order was relatively simple and did not require lawmen to be specially trained or rigorously evaluated. He suggests that even well-trained law officers become overwhelmed when society is rife with bad people.
He’s goin to wind up killin somebody. Have you thought about that?
Sheriff Bell to Carla Jean in Odessa; Chapter 5
Sheriff Bell says this to Carla Jean as they discuss Llewelyn Moss’s fugitive status. This statement shows how, in taking the money he found, Moss set off a wave of events he could not foresee their end. He soon becomes embroiled in a life of violence. Sheriff Bell hints that Moss is getting into a situation where he may have to cross moral boundaries. Carla Jean waves aside this consideration by reiterating her faith and confidence in Moss. This reflects Moss’s blind confidence in himself being able to come away unscathed from a situation vastly beyond his control, and he fails to properly assess his reality.
“Best way to live in California is to be from somewheres else.”
Moss to the hitchhiker heading to California; Chapter 7
On his way to meet Carla Jean in Odessa, Moss picks up a teenage girl hitchhiking to California. In response to her optimistic views that her life will improve once she reaches her destination, Moss responds dryly that strangers live better in California than natives. However, a deeper understanding of Moss’s point reveals people’s fundamental erroneous impression: that the grass is greener on the other side, and they only have to get away from where they are to get to a better life.
No no. No. You don’t understand. You can’t make a deal with him. Even if you gave him the money he’d still kill you. He’s a peculiar man. You could even say that he has principles. Principles that transcend money or drugs or anything like that. He’s not like you. He’s not even like me.
Carson Wells trying to convince Moss to deal with him; Chapter 5
Here, Carson Wells explains the character Chigurh to Moss. He points out that while he, Wells, would make a reasonable deal with Moss in exchange for the money, Chigurh would certainly kill him, whether Moss gives up the money or not. Chigurh is single-minded and dogged, giving no room to negotiate on his principles. He is playing by rules unfamiliar to both Wells and Moss.
Choice
In “No Country for Old Men,” the characters are dogged by their slight or substantial actions. McCarthy argues that even when one’s action seems remote, it still casts a shadow on one’s present.
You think when you wake up in the mornin’ yesterday don’t count. But yesterday is all that does count. What else is there? Your life is made out of the days it’s made out of. Nothin’ else. You might think you could run away and change your name and I don’t know what all. Start over. And then one mornin’ you wake up and look at the ceilin’ and guess who’s layin’ there?
Moss to the hitchhiker, Chapter 8
Llewelyn Moss remarks to the hitchhiker he picks up on his way to El Paso. He asserts that a person’s life is determined, or at least influenced by their past. Any belief that one can magically wipe away the past and start afresh is misguided. One’s life comprises the compounding of all the choices they have made.
I had no say in the matter. Every moment in your life is a turning and every one a choosing. Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this. The accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line can be erased. I had no belief in your ability to move a coin to your bidding. How could you? A person’s path through the world seldom changes and even more seldom will it change abruptly. And the shape of your path was visible from the beginning.
Chigurh to Carla Jean; Chapter 9
Anton Chigurh visits Carla Jean after Moss’s death, intending to kill her as he promised Moss. He explains to Carla Jean how she is fated to meet him because her actions put her on a course to meet him as her killer, with no alternative outcome. He presents fate as invincible and unavoidable and himself as an agent of fate, no more and no less.
Aging and the Passing of Time
In “No Country for Old Men”, Sheriff Bell contends with the issue of growing old. After decades on the job as a lawman, he becomes exposed to a new breed of criminals operating in a way totally alien to him: brutal, ruthless, and unpredictably dangerous. Unable to adapt to this change in conditions, he is forced to resign.
This man had . . . carved out a stone water trough to last ten thousand years. Why was that? What was it that he had faith in? It wasn’t that nothing would change. . . . He had to know bettern that. . . .The only thing I can think is that there was some sort of promise in his heart.
Sheriff Bell’s reflections, Chapter 8
Here, Sheriff Bell considers that people act when they believe they will achieve a goal that makes their actions worthwhile. In the past, even though lawmen put themselves at risk, they understood the terrain and had faith in their ability to keep law and protect lives. In his case, he feels a deep sense of despair in his inability to protect those to whom he has an obligation or to capture the criminals. This sense of inadequacy leads him to resign as sheriff.
You wear out, Ed Tom. All the time you spend tryin to get back what’s been took from you there’s more goin out the door. After a while you just try and get a tourniquet on it.
Ellis to Sheriff Bell; Chapter 9
A weary Sheriff Bell, feeling defeated in the aftermath of the Moss-Chigurh case, unburdens to Ellis. He is worn down by his failure, loss of relevance, and guilt from his past, and he tries to redeem himself by becoming a sheriff. Ellis advises Sheriff Bell to keep his life in perspective, know his limits, and not assume responsibility for more than is due.
“I always thought when I got older that God would sort of come into my life in some way. He didn’t. I don’t blame him. If I was him I’d have the same opinion about me that he does.”
Sheriff Bell to Ellis, Chapter 9
In his conversation with Ellis, Sheriff Bell is self-critical and seems to have lost faith in himself. In contrast, his youthful confidence in deserving God’s favor and presence in his life is drained out of him as he ages through disillusionment, guilt, and a general resigned pessimism.
“I think by the time you’re grown you’re as happy as you’re goin to be. You’ll have good times and bad times, but in the end you’ll be about as happy as you was before. Or as unhappy. I’ve knowed people that just never did get the hang of it.”
Ellis to Sheriff Bell; Chapter 9
Sheriff Bell pays Ellis a visit to catch up on old times and unburden his exhausted mind from dealing with the drug deal case. He opens by asking if Ellis has any regrets. Ellis’s response is an admission that life goes on, and the attention we pay to any moment is unwarranted. He seems to say that regret gives weight to moments more than one should.
Money and Greed
Moss hopes to live a better life on money that isn’t his. This or a similar motive drives all the contenders for the money, and their avarice pits them against one another, each looking to kill anyone in their way of getting the money.
“If you knew there was somebody out here afoot that had two million dollars of your money, at what point would you quit lookin for em?“
That’s right. There ain’t no such a point. ”
Moss, in a private musing; Chapter 3
After going away with the bag of money, Moss contemplates the ramifications of the money he just took and considers how best to escape with the money. Here is the crux of the problem. As he already accepts that whoever the money belongs to will likely stop at nothing to get it back, and he is resolved to make away with it, he has already set the stage for a collision where violence and death may be necessary to resolve the conflict.
