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Fate/Chance :

Do you ever wonder what would have happened if something in your life didn't occur? Or why something happened to begin with? In No Country for Old Men, we see fate and chance to be a continuous theme. From coin tosses to being in the wrong place at the wrong time, fate and chance are two major points that dictate people's lives and how anyone can die.

Fate dictates people's lives whether it's from being at the right place at the wrong time or just being in the wrong place. For Moss, he wasn't considered lucky with his fate. He got stuck in a situation where he thought money would change his life, but it ended up costing his life as well as his wifes. Yes, it may have seemed that he was saved with all this money for a wealthy future, but being at that scene and taking something that didn't belong to him left him with a target on his back. When Moss found the money, the author Cormac McCarthy,  said, “He sat there looking at it and then he closed the flap and sat with his head down. His whole life was sitting there in front of him. Day after day from dawn till dark until he was dead. All of it cooked down into forty pounds of paper in a satchel.” Being there and letting the case of money dictate his life was his fate which shows how fate could be random. In addition, chance can also dictate your life. Throughout the book we see a theme of chance through coin tosses. Chigurh walked into a gas station giving the gas station proprietor a chance of life or death. Chigurh started off by saying “What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss? Sir? The most. You ever lost. On a coin toss. I don't know. I couldn't say. Call it. Call it? Yes. For what? Just call it.” Even though it's clear that the worker was confused, he picked heads which was the side the coin landed on, sparing his life. His life counted on the coin which was a 50/50 chance of life or death. Overall, fate and chance are connected to the Wild West because it shows that anything can happen including greatness or death.

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Llewelyn Moss was one of the main characters and the protagonist in No Country for Old Men. As we follow along on Moss’s journey, we notice that he fits into a traditional hero narrative the most. Unfortunately, the hero doesn't end up succeeding with his life and commits a wrongful act that ends up ruining his life as well as others in the process. Llewlyn Moss is a 36 year old Vietnam War vet who has a wife who he cares for and tries to protect. Knowing this, Moss ends up stealing 2.4 million dollars in hopes of a better life for him and Carla Jean that they thought was well deserved. Although stealing money is an immoral action, he goes back to give water to a dying man which shows his remorse and him being a good guy.  While arguing with his wife CarIa Jean, he says, “'I’m fixin to go do somethin dumbern hell but I'm goin anyways. If I dont come back tell Mother I love her.” He risked his life just so he wouldn't let a drug dealer die of thirst in the dessert. His journey doesn't end there, in fact chigurh makes moss his top priority and wont stop till he finds him. Moss is smart, motivated, and determined to do everything to protect his wife however, they both were killed.

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Anton Chigurh is the main antagonist that is a symbolism of evil in the book No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. He is first introduced to the readers as a man in handcuffs who breaks away in the most violent, gruesome way. He is emotionless, cold blooded, unsympathetic and some may even say psychotic. Although not much of his past is introduced, we do know that he is a hit man with no remorse or compassion and is portrayed as a person who has the authority over fate, chance, and choice. On his journey, it's clear that his main goal is to locate and hunt down Moss, not caring if he has to kill people on the way. He views himself as a hand of fate and that everything is supposed to happen. In addition he gives his victims a chance to survive by providing deals and flipping coins as a decision maker. During the coin toss that depended on Carla Jean’s life, he said, “What's the most you ever lost on a coin toss?” He did the most he could for her which was providing her with a chance that ended up not being in her favor. He kills Carla Jean and others without emotion because he believes that somewhere along the lines there was a choice made that followed to all this. In addition to being emotionless, he shows strength when he gets shot and wraps his arm with a t-shirt with no professional help. In conclusion, he finds some of the money, accomplishes his goal in killing Moss, and stays a free man.

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Tom Bell is a determined sheriff who is portrayed as a good guy trying to do his best to protect Moss and Carla Jean. He believes that time and society is changing and that there is a different way to view the world rather than letting the forces of evil (Chigurh) affect it. He is a WWII veteran who struggles with his secret of the event that occurred during the war which he got honored for. He deals with his guilt through being a sheriff and does his best to make his community free of violence. He investigates the scene of the drug dealing gone wrong which gets him hooked on trying to capture Chigurh and save/find Moss. However, towards the end of the book, he realizes there's not much he can do considering Moss and Carla Jean are dead and the fact that he has no power over Chigurh. His great counts of determination and best efforts trying to save Moss did not go unnoticed. He tried his best to defeat evil and protect the people of his community but he failed. In fact, "Sometimes things turns out all right" , he says. But this time, things don't turn out all right”, according to Sheriff Bell. As a result of being an unsuccessful sheriff in the state of Texas, he retires from law enforcement.

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Characteristics of the western genre in literature usually includes stories of cowboys with rifles who ride horses, those trying to tame the wild west, and stories of adventure. In No Country for Old Men, we notice events that don't necessarily take place in the wild west and are the opposite of what's expected. In this case, these are inversions of tropes. For example, Moss dying is an inversion of a trope because he was portrayed as the good guy meaning his death was unexpected. In western genres, the good guy is supposed to save people and end up succeeding in the end. The good guy who can be described as the hero, is also typically supposed to capture the villain. However, the good guy meets a bad fate and the villain prevails. Moss steals the money but goes back to give water to a dying drug dealer showing us that he's a good person. However, him stealing the money which was his fate led to Chigurh's involvement in trying to take it back. Moss and Carla Jean, also known as the good guy and his wife, died in the end rather than capturing and killing the villain and saving the lives of the people.

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Throughout the book No Country for Old men we notice a lot of unusual events that aren't expected in a Western setting at that time period. We as readers, follow the journeys and fates of Sheriff Bell, Llewlyn Moss, Carla Jean and an evil person named Chigurh. All from a drug deal, we notice how fate can play a huge role in people's lives. The good guy dies, the bad guy still has freedom and the woman isn't saved. Furthermore, I think the point of this novel Is to force us to revisit the time period and see it in a different light. The author can also force us to see how things were different than we expected them to be. In addition, I think the title of the book plays a role in the theme of changing times, demonstrating differences between the old ways and the new. In my opinion, I agree with the claim that the author wants us to see that time period in a different way because he explained events that wouldn't have necessarily happened. This includes war veterans instead of cowboys being the focal point and Moss being caught up in a drug deal.

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Lastly, the damsel never getting saved is an inversion of a trope. Carla Jean was introduced to us as Llewelyn Moss's wife. Moss did everything to protect Carla Jean which meant running away to leave her out of danger. In addition to Moss dying, Carla Jean’s life is also affected by his actions. Chigurh needed to kill her because he promised her husband he would. The saying damsel in distress means a young sexually motivating woman is in trouble and needs a man to rescue her which is a classic theme in literature, art, and film. Considering this, Carla Jean is not a damsel in distress or a sexually motivating female character because she is not captured, but instead faces Chigurh in an ambush in her own home. At this point Carla Jean cannot be saved by a male figure and cannot be rescued because this is her fate and Chigurh promised to kill her. The Damsel in Distress usually gets rescued therefore making it an inversion because Carla Jean never gets saved. After Moss died, it seemed like killing Carla Jean was irrelevant. Chigurh going through with killing her indicates that he keeps his word even to a dead man.

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Another example of an inversion of a trope is Moss’s death happening off page. In this genre, the good guy is supposed to save everyone and defeat the antagonist. Here, we not only see the protagonist dying, but we learn that he dies off page. For the author to write about the main character and protagonist dying off page is extremely rare and goes against expectations of the good guy fulfilling his life. We followed along on Moss’s journey, but tragically found out that he was killed off page leaving us little to no information about the event. Furthermore, Moss’s death did not happen at the end of the book and the book’s villain didn't commit the crime. This occurrence was unexpected and shocking to most considering it was Chigurh that was wanted dead by the audience. In addition, Chigurh who was known as an evil killer, was let off the hook and did not receive any actions or punishment for his previous crimes. He vanishes without any punishment which is the opposite of what readers expected. Usually the villain is captured, punished, or even killed. The protagonist/good guy is expected to kill the villain but Moss was defeated instead of Chigurh.