Theme of Fate in No Country for Old Men

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No Country For Old Men, the novel by Cormac McCarthy, deals with fate in a way that’s not so much a question of good versus evil, but more like fate becoming reality. Fate, as defined in the dictionary, is ‘the development of events outside a person’s control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.’ We see this demonstrated through all of the characters in the novel, but most prominently in Anton Chigurh, Llewellyn Moss, Carson Wells, and Ed Tom Bell. The main difference between all these characters is their belief in either luck and chance, or fate and destiny. The character with the biggest belief in fate is Anton Chigurh, a hit-man who kills almost everyone he meets. He has no remorse for killing, and no compassion for other human beings, but he strictly abides to a moral code; he believes that he, himself is an instrument of fate, and that every decision leads to a certain path, and that nothing can alter that. A lot about Chigurh’s character is revealed early on in the novel when he goes to the gas station. By offering the gas station attendant (and later on, other potential victims) the call of the coin toss, he brings the idea of luck into the situation. Their fate is now up to the side the coin lands on, and he does not feel morally responsible for his actions; whether or not he murders them based on their call of the coin. The gas station attendant does not realize that he is betting on his life until after Chigurh leaves, narrowly sparing him. He truly believes that he is doing the right thing by leaving his decisions up to fate, and eliminating all moral responsibility from his actions. This idea of using luck as a catalyst for death also comes across in Chigurh’s final conversation with Carla Jean. While the gas station attendant did not fully understand the weight of his decision in the coin toss, Carla Jean knew all along.
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