66 pages • 2 hours read
Cormac McCarthyNo Country for Old Men
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Symbols & Motifs
Weapons
Weapons, usually guns, are commonplace and accepted workman’s tools in this novel. They are ubiquitous. Not only does Sheriff Bell carry multiple weapons, which the reader expects because of his job, but nearly every other character has at least one weapon too. Their choice of weapon, and who they use that weapon against, defines each character’s moral code and character.
Anton Chigurh’s slaughterhouse weapon symbolizes his contempt for the people he kills. He puts them down just like the butchers at the slaughterhouse put down cattle. People are no more than animals to Chigurh. His use of such a weapon to kill people, one that requires his close proximity to his victim, frequently touching their heads “like a faith healer,” are a sick reminder that instead of healing, he is killing. He is a demon of death and destruction, not an angel or faith-healer. Additionally, he has no faith and no belief in the soul—he is Sheriff Bell’s “prophet of destruction” (4).
Chigurh’s use of weapons, frequently unusual, such as the slaughterhouse gun or the shotgun with a homemade beer can silencer, contrasts sharply with Moss’s precise and expert knowledge of shooting techniques and guns. Moss is a craftsman, a hunter, understanding and appreciating the qualities of the weapons he uses. Moss uses his weapons to protect himself, not to wreak vengeance. He shoots, but does not kill, Chigurh.
Cars and Trucks
Vehicles form an underlying motif in this novel. McCarthy frequently describes the year, make, model, and color of the cars and trucks each character drives or acquires. Each vehicle symbolizes generally an ability to move and cover ground, and the ability to escape danger.
When a vehicle loses its protective ability, it is abandoned, as Moss abandons his truck at the beginning of the novel. When Chigurh has no more use for the Dallas man’s Ford, he abandons it and sets fire to it. Significantly, he abandons the sedan for a powerful, large truck—a Dodge Ramcharger.
However, for all the miles the characters cover back and forth in this southwestern corner of Texas, they do not travel very far in knowledge or wisdom gained. Their vehicles travel, but the miles covered do not symbolize inner transformation. McCarthy’s characters do not change or evolve: they act as their natures predetermine that they will.
Evil men are represented by their powerful cars. For example, the Mexican drug dealer who kills the teenage hitchhiker and Moss drives a black Plymouth Barracuda. Symbolically, the car is named for a predator fish.
Twisted Quest
Typically, in a quest, the hero gains wisdom as he undergoes many adventures in order to possess a great treasure. Traditional quests in literature include the stories of Jason and the Argonauts, Don Quixote, or Sir Gawain’s search for the Holy Grail. Many characters in this novel travel far and have many adventures seeking a great treasure; the treasures in this novel, however, are tainted drug money and heroin.
In this twist on a traditional quest motif, the hero—Llewelyn Moss—loses his life and a great treasure, because he has not earned the treasure through trials or earned the wisdom he needs to be worthy of the treasure.. Not only does he cause his own death, but his actions directly cause his wife’s death too.
If the reader choses Sheriff Bell as the hero, a similar warped result ensues. The murderer Bell seeks is never caught, and he never recovers the drug money or the heroin. His quest is a complete failure. Though wise, he is not strong enough to prevail against this evil.
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