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Though McCarthy's work is undoubtedly literary in its style and intent, he is known to blend genres in his work, including science fiction, southern gothic, western, and thriller. His earlier work stems from the southern gothic tradition, and was heavily influenced by William Faulkner, the author of The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying. Herman Melville, the author of Moby Dick, has also been cited as an influence on McCarthy's work. Like several of McCarthy's other novels, No Country for Old Men includes all of the elements of the traditional western genre, including goodhearted sheriffs, ruthless outlaws, tragic heroes and dames, and gunfights. These elements place No Country for Old Men within a broad tradition of westerns including works such as Lonesome Dove, by Larry McMurtry, and True Grit, by Charles Portis. No Country for Old Men, however, adds modern elements to the traditional western genre, and adds new shades of complexity to the age-old battle between good and evil. The novel is also deeply philosophical in its exploration of morality, ethics, and human nature, drawing on the philosophies of Friedrich Nietzsche and Emanuel Kant.

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Though McCarthy's work is undoubtedly literary in its style and intent, he is known to blend genres in his work, including science fiction, southern gothic, western, and thriller. His earlier work stems from the southern gothic tradition, and was heavily influenced by William Faulkner, the author of The Sound and the Fury and As I Lay Dying.

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Loretta Bell is the wife of Sheriff Ed Tom Bell. She provides support for her husband both spiritually as well as emotionally. Sheriff Bell repeatedly emphasizes how lucky he is to have her and her support as his wife. She also cares for the prison inmates by making them home cooked meals. Some of these prisoners then come back and see her after they have turned their lives around. Without Loretta, Bell would be unable to deal with the pressures of being the sheriff or the guilt and grief he feels over his past failures.

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Carla Jean is the 19 year old wife of the 36 year old Lewellyn Moss. She married him at the age of 16 because she had a premonition that he was the one. She is very loyal to Moss as she picks up and leaves their home to live with her grandmother when Moss finds the money. She also does not help Sheriff Bell to track down Moss because Moss told her not to. In the end, this loyalty is what leads her to her downfall as Chigurh kills her because Moss didn’t hand over the money himself.

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Wells is a Vietnam war veteran turned hit man who is tasked with tracking down Chigurh and finding the missing money. Wells, having worked with Chigurh before, recognizes the danger that Moss is in and offers his help which is refused. Wells is overconfident in his abilities which leads him to overlook the role that luck and chance play in individuals fates which leads to Chigurh killing him. In the end, Wells struggles to accept his fate however Chigurh  helps him to accept this before shooting him in the face.

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McCarthy was born as one out of six children born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father worked as a lawyer. He initially pursued a degree in creative writing at the University of Tennessee. McCarthy has been married three times and has two children. He lives and writes in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His style has been known to blend Science Fiction, Southern Gothic, Western, and Thriller elements together. McCarthy’s work has been influenced by authors William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying and Stream of Consciousness) and Herman Melville (Moby Dick).

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McCarthy was born as one out of six children born in Knoxville, Tennessee. His father worked as a lawyer. He initially pursued a degree in creative writing at the University of Tennessee. McCarthy has been married three times and has two children. He lives and writes in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His style has been known to blend Science Fiction, Southern Gothic, Western, and Thriller elements together. McCarthy’s work has been influenced by authors William Faulkner (As I Lay Dying and Stream of Consciousness) and Herman Melville (Moby Dick).

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The book is mainly illustrated through three main narrators: Chigurh, Moss, and Sheriff Bell. Most of the time, an event happens to Moss and is told through his perspective followed up by Chigurh and Sheriff Bell viewing the aftermath of whatever happens around Moss. The one distinct time that this changes is when Moss is killed. The reader gets the account of how Moss died from Chigurh and Sheriff Bell after he is killed by the Mexicans.

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None of the characters in the book are omniscient, they all have limited perspectives. This adds the opinion of each of the characters on each of the events that happen in the book. The difference in opinions between the characters leads the reader to understand how an outlaw (Chigurh), a neutral (Moss), and a hero (Sheriff Bell) view each of the different events that happen in the book. The bias of each character allows the reader to connect more with the characters in the novel.

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Due to each of the characters having a personal bias the narrator is viewed as untrustworthy. The characters may think that there are certain motives behind others that are not the characters actual motives. For example, Moss’ bias makes him believe that Carla Jean will be safe if Chigurh gets the money in the end. This however is not the case as Chigurh still kills Carla Jean in the end. Furthermore, the bias of the characters leads them to present different meanings for events that are not always true.

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The book seemed to have a relatively quick pace to it. The novel seemed to go through scenes of conflict between different parties involved and then delve right into each of the characters’ responses and actions after each of these moments of conflict. This made the book a lot more enjoyable because it did not bore the reader with bland useless details that are essentially just fluff.

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Another interesting choice that Cormac McCarthy made was to have three different primary narrators throughout the story. This really helped to keep the pace up at a faster tempo because it allowed for one narrator to be out of the story while they are not doing anything that’s really significant to the plot. An example of this is when Moss is in the hospital, the narration shifts to Wells and Chigurh furthering the plot while Moss is not doing anything truly significant.

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The author definitely keeps time moving forwards throughout the novel. There are several instances where time jumps forward which make sense logically which was nice. Throughout the book, there’s only really one significant flashback that comes from Sheriff Bell as he describes his war experience. It’s not the traditional flashback but more of a dialogue between two characters. The only other flashbacks occur during the Sheriff’s italicized sections which I believe are either his thoughts or some kind of journal.

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Moss does not really change a whole lot throughout the novel. He starts out as kind of a secretive Vietnam Veteran who mostly keeps to himself. He never really gains any trustworthiness throughout the book and mainly keeps his motives to himself. He definitely however loses his faith in others as he keeps his motives entirely secret from them. He also gains a lot of confidence to the point of overconfidence in his abilities because he survives several attempts on his life. This survival is more due to luck and the competition between Chigurh and the mexicans. His overconfidence leads to carelessness like Wells this leads to his downfall.

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Sheriff Bell is hard to tell if he changes a lot during the course of the novel. He starts out as an old school Sheriff that thinks that it is his job to protect the people in his county and take down any “evil” that threatens their safety. Throughout the novel, Sheriff Bell definitely loses confidence in his abilities and his ability to overcome the forces facing him leading him towards his retirement. Sheriff Bell succumbs to the overcoming power that the drug runners possess because he is always a step behind them and unable to prevent the people of his county from dying.

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Throughout the novel, Anton Chigurh displays some development. At the beginning of the novel he allows himself to be captured by a Sheriff’s deputy just to see if he can escape. He is clearly bored with his life at the start of the novel. He then gets the challenge of tracking down Moss on his own and getting the money which causes him to grow in his ruthlessness. By the end of the novel, Chigurh realizes the power that the organized drug lords possess so he seeks to join them. Chigurh grows to realize that it would be easier for him to complete his tasks with a larger backing.

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“It was dark when she got home. She went into the kitchen and put the kettle on and sat at the kitchen table. She hadnt felt like crying. Now she did. She lowered her face into her folded arms. Oh Mama, she said.
When she went upstairs and turned on the light in her bedroom Chigurh was sitting at the little desk waiting for her. She stood in the doorway, her hand falling slowly away from the wallswitch. He moved not at all. She stood there, holding her hat. Finally she said: I knowed this wasnt done with.
Smart girl.
I aint got it.
Got what?
I need to set down.
Chigurh nodded toward the bed. She sat and put her hat on the bed beside her and then picked it up again and held it to her.
Too late, Chigurh said.
I know.
What is it that you havent got?
I think you know what I'm talkin about.
How much do you have.
I dont have none of it. I had about seven thousand dollars all told and I can tell you it's been long gone and they's bills aplenty left to pay yet. I buried my mother today. I aint paid for that neither.
I wouldnt worry about it.
She looked at the bedside table.
It's not there, he said.
She sat slumped forward, holding her hat in her arms. You've got no cause to hurt me, she said.
I know. But I gave my word.
Your word?
Yes. We're at the mercy of the dead here. In this case your husband.
That dont make no sense.
I'm afraid it does.
I dont have the money. You know I aint got it.
I know.
You give your word to my husband to kill me?
Yes.
He's dead. My husband is dead.
Yes. But I'm not.
You dont owe nothin to dead people.
Chigurh cocked his head slightly. No? he said.
How can you?
How can you not?
They're dead.
Yes. But my word is not dead. Nothing can change that.
You can change it.
I dont think so. Even a nonbeliever might find it useful to model himself after God. Very
useful, in fact.
You're just a blasphemer.
Hard words. But what's done cannot be undone. I think you understand that. Your husband, you may be distressed to learn, had the opportunity to remove you from harm's way and he chose not to do so. He was given that option and his answer was no. Otherwise I would not be here now.
You aim to kill me.
I'm sorry.
She put the hat down on the bed and turned and looked out the window. The new green of the trees in the light of the vaporlamp in the yard bending and righting again in the evening wind. I dont know what I ever done, she said. I truly dont.
Chigurh nodded. Probably you do, he said. There's a reason for everything.
She shook her head. How many times I've said them very words. I wont again.
You've suffered a loss of faith.
I've suffered a loss of everthing I ever had. My husband wanted to kill me?
Yes. Is there anything that you'd like to say?
To who?
I'm the only one here.
I dont have nothin to say to you.
You'll be all right. Try not to worry about it.
What?
I see your look, he said. It doesn't make any difference what sort of person I am, you know.
You shouldnt be more frightened to die because you think I'm a bad person.
I knowed you was crazy when I seen you settin there, she said. I knowed exactly what was in store for me. Even if I couldnt of said it.
Chigurh smiled. It's a hard thing to understand, he said. I see people struggle with it. The look they get. They always say the same thing.
What do they say.
They say: You dont have to do this.
You dont.
It's not any help though, is it?
No.
So why do you say it?
I aint never said it before.
Any of you.
There's just me, she said. There aint nobody else.
Yes. Of course.
She looked at the gun. She turned away. She sat with her head down, her shoulders shaking. Oh Mama, she said.
None of this was your fault.
She shook her head, sobbing.
You didnt do anything. It was bad luck.
She nodded.
He watched her, his chin in his hand. All right, he said. This is the best I can do.
He straightened out his leg and reached into his pocket and drew out a few coins and took one and held it up. He turned it. For her to see the justice of it. He held it between his thumb and forefinger and weighed it and then flipped it spinning in the air and caught it and slapped it down on his wrist. Call it, he said.
She looked at him, at his outheld wrist. What? She said.
Call it.
I wont do it.
Yes you will. Call it.
God would not want me to do that.
Of course he would. You should try to save yourself. Call it. This is your last chance.
Heads, she said.
He lifted his hand away. The coin was tails.
I'm sorry.
She didnt answer.
Maybe it's for the best.
She looked away. You make it like it was the coin. But you're the one.
It could have gone either way.
The coin didnt have no say. It was just you.
Perhaps. But look at it my way. I got here the same way the coin did.
She sat sobbing softly. She didnt answer.
For things at a common destination there is a common path. Not always easy to see. But there.
Everthing I ever thought has turned out different, she said. There aint the least part of my life
I could of guessed. Not this, not none of it.
I know.
You wouldnt of let me off noway.
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.
She sat sobbing. She shook her head.
Yet even though I could have told you how all of this would end I thought it not too much to ask that you have a final glimpse of hope in the world to lift your heart before the shroud drops, the darkness. Do you see?
Oh God, she said. Oh God.
I'm sorry.
She looked at him a final time. You dont have to, she said. You dont. You dont.
He shook his head. You're asking that I make myself vulnerable and that I can never do. I
have only one way to live. It doesnt allow for special cases. A coin toss perhaps. In this caseto small purpose. Most people dont believe that there can be such a person. You can see whata problem that must be for them. How to prevail over that which you refuse to acknowledge the existence of. Do you understand? When I came into your life your life was over. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end. This is the end. You can say that things could have turned out differently. That they could have been some other way. But what does that mean? They are not some other way. They are this way. You're asking that I second say the world. Do you see?
Yes, she said, sobbing. I do. I truly do.
Good, he said. That's good. Then he shot her.” (McCarthy 254-260)

This passage really stuck out to me because it entertains an interesting idea about decisions in one's past affecting them in unknown ways in the future. Especially with the college decision that most high school students make during their senior year picking one college over another, what ramifications are there that we don't see when we make the decision. This kind of shows how the decisions of the past truly shape the future with us having knowledge of it or not. The passage then asks the interesting question of if individuals do not know the impact of their actions, does that ignorance remove the weight of responsibility from their shoulders?

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"The car that hit Chigurh in the intersection three blocks from the house was a ten year old Buick that had run a stop-sign. There were no skidmarks at the site and the vehicle had made no attempt to brake. Chigurh never wore a seatbelt driving in the city because of just such hazards and although he saw the vehicle coming and threw himself to the other side of the truck the impact carried the caved-in driver side door to him instantly and broke his arm in two places and broke some ribs and cut his head and his leg. He crawled out of the passenger side door and staggered to the sidewalk and sat in the grass of someone's lawn and looked at his arm. Bone sticking up under the skin. Not good. A woman in a housedress ran out screaming." (McCarthy 260).

This passage stuck out to me because of the almost innocent way that Chigurh is taken out of the story. After being such a sinister villain for the entirety of the book and surviving multiple injuries and gunfights throughout the book to be taken out by a car accident, really? This stood out because even the most talented and ruthless people are susceptible to the blind luck of an accident. This defines the difference between Wells, Moss, and Chigurh. Wells and Moss become so overconfident in their abilities that they cease to be cautious. Chigurh has that same confidence yet still remains somewhat cautious as he slides over a seat just before the impact of the other car. That is why Chigurh triumphs over both Wells and Moss.

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"HE SAID I WAS BEIN hard on myself Said it was a sign of old age. Tryin to set things right. I guess there's some truth to that. But it aint the whole truth. I agreed with him that there wasnt a whole lot good you could say about old age and he said he knew one thing and I said what is that. And he said it dont last long. I waited for him to smile but he didnt. I said well, that's pretty cold. And he said it was no colder than what the facts called for. So that was all there was about that. I knew what he'd say anyways, bless his heart. You care about people you try and lighten their load for em. Even when it's self-ordained. The other thing that was on my mind I never even got around to but I believe it to be related because I believe that whatever you do in your life it will get back to you. If you live long enough it will. And I can think of no reason in the world for that no-good to of killed that girl. What did she ever do to him? The truth is I never should of gone up there in the first place. Now they got that Mexican up here in Huntsville for killin that state trooper that he shot him and set his car afire and him in it and I dont believe he done it. But that's what he's goin to get the death penalty for. So what is my obligation there? I think I have sort of waited for all of this to go away somehow or another and of course it aint. I think I knew that when it started. It had that feel to it. Like I was fixin to get drug into somethin where the road back was goin to be a pretty long one. When he asked me why this come up now after so many years I said that it had always been there. That I had just ignored it for the most part. But he's right, it did come up. I think sometimes people would rather have a bad answer about things than no answer at all. When I told it, well it took a shape I would not have guessed it to have and in that way he was right too. It was like a ballplayer told me one time he said that if he had some slight injury and it bothered him a little bit, nagged at him, he generally played better. It kept his mind focused on one thing instead of a hundred. I can understand that. Not that it changes anything. I thought if I lived my life in the strictest way I knew how then I would not ever again have a thing that would eat on me thataway. I said that I was twenty-one years old and I was entitled to one mistake, particularly if I could learn from it and become the sort of man I had it in my mind to be. Well, I was wrong about all of that. Now I aim to quit and a good part of it is just knowin that I wont be called on to hunt this man. I reckon he's a man. So you could say to me that I aint changed a bit and I dont know that I would even have a argument about that. Thirty-six years. That's a painful thing to know. One other thing he said. You'd think a man that had waited eighty some odd years on God to come into his life, well, you'd think he'd come. If he didnt you'd still have to figure that he knew what he was doin. I dont know what other description of God you could have. So what you end up with is that those he has spoke to are the ones that must of needed it the worst. That's not a easy thing to accept. Particularly as it might apply to someone like Loretta. But then maybe we are all of us lookin through the wrong end of the glass. Always have been. Aunt Carolyn's letters to Harold. The reason she had them letters was that he had saved em. She was the one raised him and she was the same as his mother. Them letters was dogeared and tore and covered with mud and I dont know what all. The thing about them letters. Well for one thing you could tell they were just country people. I dont think he'd ever been out of Irion County, let alone the State of Texas. But the thing about them letters was you could tell that the world she was plannin on him comin back to was not ever goin to be here. Easy to see now. Sixty some years on. But they just had no notion at all. You can say you like it or you dont like it but it dont change nothin. I've told my deputies more than once that you fix what you can fix and you let the rest go. If there aint nothin to be done about it it aint even a problem. It's just a aggravation. And the truth is I dont have no more idea of the world that is brewin out there than what Harold did. Of course as it turned out he never come home at all. There was not nothin in them letters to suggest that she had reckoned on that possibility. Well, you know she did. She just wouldnt of said nothin about it to him. I've still got that medal of course. It come in a fancy purple box with a ribbon and all. It was in my bureau for years and then one day I took it out and put it in the drawer in the livin room table where I wouldnt have to look at it. Not that I ever looked at it, but it was there. Harold didnt get no medal. He just come home in a wooden box. And I dont believe they had Gold Star mothers in the First World War but if they had of Aunt Carolyn would not of got one of them either since he was not her natural son. But she should of. She never got his war pension neither. So. I went back out there one more time. I walked over that ground and there was very little sign that anything had ever took place there. I picked up a shellcasin or two. That was about it. I stood out there a long time and I thought about things. It was one of them warm days you get in the winter sometimes. A little wind. I still keep thinkin maybe it is somethin about the country. Sort of the way Ellis said. I thought about my family and about him out there in his wheelchair in the old house and it just seemed to me that this country has got a strange kind of history and a damned bloody one too. About anywhere you care to look. I could stand back off and smile about such thoughts as them but I still have em. I dont make excuses for the way I think. Not no more. I talk to my daughter. She would be thirty now. That's all right. I dont care how that sounds. I like talkin to her. Call it superstition or whatever you want. I know that over the years I have give her the heart I always wanted for myself and that's all right. That's why I listen to her. I know I'll always get the best from her. It dont get mixed up with my own ignorance or my own meanness. I know how that sounds and I guess I'd have to say that I dont care. I never even told my wife and we dont have a whole lot of secrets from one another. I dont think she'd say I'm crazy, but some might. Ed Tom? Yeah, they had to swear out a lunacy warrant. I hear they're feedin him under the door. That's all right. I listen to what she says and what she says makes good sense. I wish she'd say more of it. I can use all the help I can get. Well, that's enough of that.” (McCarthy 281-285).

This passage stuck out to me because it illustrated the Sheriff's discouraged outlook on the world that has changed around him. He relents his failures which ultimately lead him to fail to try to stop Chigurh. His fear of failure causes him to fail thus collaterally damaging innocent people. The decisions of Sheriff Bell's youth lead him to become a coward affecting his ability to act in the future thus handicapping himself and those around him. This handicap is the reason that Carla Jean and Moss die.

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One of the central ideas of the book has a personal connection to me now I guess. The idea that individual’s past decisions have unforeseen complications in the future connects with me. Going through the process of picking a college to attend, it’s those future complications of the decision that I make that have me kind of questioning what would be different if I went to this school instead of this other school. This book also made me question the past choices I’ve made and how they are affecting me currently and wonder what would have happened if I made a different choice.

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Another connection to the text that I had was to the motels that the characters stay in throughout the book. I stayed in a motel for the CU Honor Band a couple of weeks ago and it was interesting that Moss would choose such a low cost option when he has millions of dollars with him. I think that Moss’ decision to stay at the motel over a nicer establishment is two-fold. First, he’s not used to having the money and the money hasn’t changed the way that he thinks yet. Second, Chigurh and the mexicans would search the hotels first and find him faster that way.

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Another way that I connected with the text was that the book is essentially a modern day western. My parents are pretty big fans of the old western movies with actors like John Wayne in them. The only real difference between No Country For Old Men and these westerns is that good does not triumph in the book. Throughout the whole book I thought that Sheriff Bell would catch up with Chigurh and catch him but he doesn’t.

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Similarly to As I Lay Dying, No Country for Old Men is written in a stream of consciousness. The difference between the two is that it feels like No Country for Old Men moves through more plot events than As I Lay Dying because it cut out on some of the unnecessary details. This book also had less narrators than As I Lay Dying by far.

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No Country for Old Men has some similarities to Crime and Punishment in the fact that Moss and Raskolnikov have some similarities. Moss and Raskolnikov are both paranoid about being caught for good reasons. If Moss is caught then he dies, if Raskolnikov is caught he goes to prison. The difference between the two is that Moss isn’t crippled by this paranoia and eventually grows into apathy like Raskolnikov. Furthermore, Chigurh isn’t bothered by murdering people the way that Raskolnikov is.

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In Song of Solomon, one of the main themes is how the backgrounds of different characters leads to different characteristics that those characters develop. No Country for Old Men explores the same idea only from more of an active point of view. Instead of characters being shaped passively by the environment around them, characters are shaped by the decisions they make and the consequences of those decisions.

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One of the ways that McCarthy makes the book into a page turner is by utilizing a hopeful characterization of Moss in the face of ever increasingly dire conflicts. McCarthy gives the reader reason to be hopeful that Moss will be able to overcome the power of evil that is the mexicans and Chigurh. Through all the gunfights, the reader thinks that Moss will get lucky or Chigurh will be unlucky enough for Moss to kill those after him and make his escape. This never happens though and he ends up being killed by the overcoming power of evil.

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The book is definitely designed to both entertain and to teach the reader a lesson. The book is entertaining because it is a western with plenty of rising action and conflict between different characters. The hopeful characterization of Moss also helps the reader to enjoy an otherwise violent book. The book also teaches several lessons about the overcoming power of evil, the impact of decisions, the effects of carelessness and luck on individual’s fates, and the negative direction in which the crime in America is heading. Both of these elements are necessary to the book in order to keep the reader interested whilst still teaching a lesson.

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Cormac McCarthy utilizes characterization to keep his audience interested in the story whilst also teaching a lesson. McCarthy creates such deep and varied characters that the reader is left wondering how each will respond to different situations. The characters have different events that shape who they are and how they react in and after events have transpired. This characterization illustrates how people are shaped by their pasts which also shapes their decisions and futures. The varied characterization is a much appreciated addition to the book because it allows for varied points of view for the reader to understand the book from.

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Final Padlet Entry Thing Where I am supposed to change the colors

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Final Padlet Entry Thing Where I am supposed to change the colors

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Disclaimer at the start: Mastro… there is no way to answer all the different questions that this asks in under 100 words, so here we go! Throughout No Country for Old Men one recurring idea is that decisions made in the present have unforeseen complications in the future. This is one of the central themes of the novel as McCarthy slowly reveals how the different decisions that characters made shapes who they are as well as their futures. This is especially prominent in his characterization of the five main characters: Lewellyn Moss, Carla Jean, Anton Chigurh, Sheriff Bell. Moss makes the decision to take the drug money at the beginning of the book thinking that he could get away with it when in reality this ends up leading to his downfall. Furthermore, having been in Vietnam as a sniper made Moss have the skills to survive as long as he did against his foes. His sniper skills also transferred into his cautiousness which saves his life more than once. In addition to that, his time in Vietnam made him a hard and secretive man which serves him well throughout the novel. Carla Jean makes the decision to marry Moss at the age of 16 which leads to her downfall at the hands of Chigurh. Anton Chigurh is a Vietnam Veteran like Moss which shapes his military skills as well as his ruthlessness and hardness of character. Next, Sheriff Bell’s actions are shaped by a mistake he made in France in World War 1 leading to his fear of failure to the point that he doesn’t wholeheartedly try to stop Chigurh leading to multiple innocent civilians dying. In addition to this complex idea and the characterization of these characters, a reoccuring device throughout the novel is tone. McCarthy sets up a hopeful kind of heroic tone around Moss and Bell while creating a sinister and grotesque tone around Chigurh and the mexicans. This sets up the classic battle of good versus evil that occurs throughout the novel. The reader believes that good will somehow triumph over evil, but in the end it does not as the hopeful tone surrounding Moss and Bell is eroded when Moss dies and Bell’s demons haunt him. That tone sets up the other main motif of the novel; the overwhelming power of evil. Throughout the book all of the “good” characters end up dead or overwhelmed by the evil that they are facing that they give up. I think that McCarthy is very effective in his usage of these two ideas and two devices as his intended message comes across to the reader. I think that the tone and negative outcome of the work definitely add up to the author’s view that America is moving towards a state of almost anarchy where criminals can do anything they want because of lack of respect for the law as well as the incompetence of the law. I do not agree with this sentiment because there are still a lot of people devoted to good in America who will not let this come true. I do not believe that evil will always overpower and overwhelm good. I do think that our past choices do affect us in ways that we are unaware of and likely will remain unaware of. The choices is such a complex topic because there are choices made by everyone around us that lead them to be who they are. If those choices were fundamentally different, how would that affect us?