According to Lord Chesterfield, “You must look into people as well as at them”. Through this conception, Chesterfield is suggesting that we should not only base our assessments on one's appearance or reputation, but instead, investigate to reveal their moral, emotional and intellectual qualities. I agree with this philosophy, for an assumption without any substance or evaluation can potentially lead to several unfortunate consequences in the end. Chesterfield's statement can be applied to the characters depicted in the novel, No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy. I will support my belief by utilizing the literary terms of theme, characterization, symbolism, and irony in the following essay.
People will generally appear as merely ordinary creatures, until their innermost core is reached and their deepest thoughts are exposed. One major theme portrayed in No Country For Old Men was the idea that people will one day outlive their time, and get to a point where they don't recognize their own landscape anymore. McCarthy is subtly conveying that no matter how much you fight it, times are constantly changing and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. Being a sheriff, it seemed as if Ed Tom Bell had opposed almost every type of outlaw that could be found in Terrell County, Texas. He realized how wrong he was after encountering Anton Chigurh, the man who proved that “...the world was goin' to hell in a hand-basket...” (page 196). To everyone around him, Bell seemed to be the same reputable lawman he had always been. No one could even come close to guessing the reality that the Sheriff was gradually beginning to undergo feelings of uselessness and defeat. Like an angel of death, Chigurh murdered anyone daring to cross his path, and behaved like no one Bell had ever seen before. Ed Tom stayed composed to the public eye, but was internally ripped apart from limb to limb. He was driven into the arms of retirement, for he had been convinced by the grim reaper himself that times had indeed changed. During each of Bell's narratives, characterization was depicted to show that as years passed and changes continued to occur, the Sheriff's vulnerability and feelings of defenselessness increased. Towards the beginning of the book, Bell's confidence was evident, as he claimed he “... always knew that you had to be willin' to die to even do this job,” (page 2). Although his authority was high, Bell came to learn the hard way that “... bad people can't be governed at all...” (page 64) or if they could be, it was unheard of. The Sheriff felt as if he had faced the forces of darkness and endured utter defeat. His confidence and feelings of triumph were gradually crumbled into pieces, as McCarthy portrayed Bell as a small dog who couldn't guard his own backyard. At the end of the story, although Ed Tom still possessed some feelings of dissatisfaction, symbolism was utilized to illustrate comfort that could be found in his situation. Bell envisioned his father in two different dreams. The first dream was a blur, and all he could remember was receiving an amount of money from his father, which he then lost. I believe this represented the fact that in contrast to belief, money wasn't really as important as people made it out to be, and caused unwanted amounts of hostility everyday. The second dream depicted his father in the dark, riding a horse ahead of him. He was waiting with a bright, glistening lamp in his hand. In the midst of the chaos of society, the lamp represented hope waiting at the end of a hazardous path. Although the Sheriff still seemed tough, yet weary to the outside world, you would have to look inside of him to understand that the consolation from his late father was indeed necessary during this time in his life.
What you see on the outside doesn't always reflect exactly what's on the inside. Throughout McCarthy's novel, iniquity took a human form in a man named Anton Chigurh, the epitome of all that was evil. Characterization was continuously used to emphasize Anton's persistent compassionless behavior. Chigurh was a vicious, ruthless murderer, who was even more obdurate than his reputation made him out to be. He was expressed as possessing strong feelings of unstoppable greed and determination through his conscienceless thoughts and actions. Anton had a mission to search for, find, and kill Llewelyn Moss, and he refused to end his perpetual journey until his victim was discovered and destroyed. Chigurh may have appeared to be a typical, horrendous outlaw to some, but in reality, the psychotic serial killer was so much more than just that. Chigurh enforced the idea that once he entered a man's life, their “...life was over. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end...” (page 260) and their face to face encounter was indeed the tragic, misfortunate finale. Irony was also used to prove the validity of Chesterfield's quote. Despite Anton's vehement killing spree and constant hostility towards those around him, Chigurh claimed to have his own set of “morals”. They were completely twisted, deranged and immensely different from what any average person would expect, but they were the distinct principles he lived by. Chigurh believed that “...every moment in life is a turning and every one is a choosing...” and after one single significant choice was made “...the accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line can be erased,” (page 259). Anton saw himself as a hand of fate, and his instrument of chance was a coin. Selecting heads or tails was the simple choice that decided one's entire destiny. I found Chigurh's remedy of merging fortune and fate with murder to be completely unexpected and ironic. The man was a notorious psychopath dispatching anyone he felt necessary, so his belief in fate didn't exactly seem to fit in. With Anton Chigurh, there was a lot more than met the eye, for not many murderers would have left their substantial decisions up to pure chance.
It was made clear by Lord Chesterfield that, “You must look into people as well as at them”. You will never fully comprehend a person without looking past their image and diving deeper into their soul. I agree with this statement, for if a judgement is based solely on appearance, several traits not visible on the surface could be easily missed. The novel, No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy supports the idea that people should be looked into as well as upon. I have proven this to be fact by utilizing the literary terms of theme, characterization, symbolism, and irony. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell and Anton Chigurh may have seemed to be the common lawman and murderer, but after investigating their inner qualities, there is more to be known than expected.
Ahh, not sure what's going on with the spacing =(. Can't seem to make it look right, sorry.
, but for the "I" statements, my teacher actually tells us to do that =/. I don't know why, but I think that's the format of a critical lens essay, as he always tells us to do that. Along with the "i have utilized the terms of.." part, he told us to do that too. Eh, he's a really good writer & he's really smart, so that's what confuses me, leading me to believe it has to just be the format of this type of essay. But thanks so much, I'll clean it up.
. I guess this is just a very oddly formatted essay.. haha.
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