Depravity In Cormac Mccarthy's No Country For Old Men

In Cormac McCarthy’s 2005 bestseller, No Country for Old Men, he presents the reader with an exploration of human depravity through the lives of three main characters. While two of these integral characters, Anton Chigurh and Llewelyn Moss, clearly display what society would identify as vice, Shariff Ed Tom Bell is presented as a weathered, virtuous man, who struggles to reconcile himself to the ever-expanding presence of evil in the world. Despite McCarthy’s use of Bell as a type of moral compass in his book, the Sheriff is still utilized, all be it in a less evident manner, human depravity. After trailing in the bloody wake of Chigurh and Moss for the majority of the book, Bell is broken down both mentally and spiritually resigns himself …show more content…
Instead of using his experiences and negative sentiments concerning society as a call to arms, Bell resorts to an escape from his duties and the world, through retirement. Because the reader sees the evolution of Bell’s character throughout his many failures in the book, there is a tendency to pity him because of everything the he has gone through. For this reason, much of the literary rhetoric surrounding Bell’s character tends to gloss over the immense weight of his choice to retire. However, this pity does not negate the fact that Sheriff Bess is shirking his God given responsibility to protect and serve. God clearly calls us to labor and take pride and joy in our work (Prov. 10:4-5, 2 Thess. 3:6-12). Dr. R.C. Sproul states that “labor is a gift from God, given to man before the fall (Gen. 2:15). Sin brought a curse to our labor, and so we occasionally find it dreary. However, work itself is not the punishment for sin. It is a source of blessed purpose in our lives.” Because Bell takes the route of inaction and defeat, he foregoes God’s design and blessing for