“No Country for Old Men” by Cormac McCarthy has been hailed as one of the greatest pieces of literature for its cunning storytelling and dense characters. One of the more interesting characters in this novel is Llewelyn Moss for his ability to run from the unstoppable killing machine that is Anton Chirgurh. For about two-thirds of the story, it would not be unreasonable to assume that Moss is the protagonist of this thriller. However, Moss meets an unfortunate demise rather early in the plot which leaves readers questioning, “why kill off the protagonist so early?” This is because Moss is not the protagonist—Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is. But what would make Llewelyn Moss not the protagonist in this story? Some say that a protagonist has to have hero qualities which you could argue that Llewelyn d;oes not possess. Could any moral person justify taking two million dollars from anyone no matter how corrupt they are? One thing to take in consideration is that Moss’ moral compass could be swayed due to his tribulations he had to undergo during his tour in Vietnam. Unlike Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, Moss expresses a less altruistic worldview. Bell sees violence as unnecessary and senseless while Moss sees it as a means that should be resorted during troubling times. …show more content…
The way and reason this is done is one of the many aspects that makes No Country for Old Men stand out from other novels in its genre’s: it is because it takes a very real look at the nature of morality. The way it communicates morality through the characters Chirgurh (Evil), Bell (Good), and Moss (Neutral) is unique in it of itself. McCarthy essentially gave us the ending we didn’t want, but needed. There are times where the world is unfair and there are times where evil prevails. There is likely nothing we can do that to change that because that is the nature of our