In the film No Country for Old Men, the character Anton Chigurh is displayed as pure evil. He has no empathy, and you cannot reason with him. This is what we are told by his past acquaintances, such as Carson Wells, who defines Chigurh as “pure evil”.
But is it true? What a character is perceived as is often different from what he actually is, you can expect this from an author like Cormac McCarthy. Because there are small hints in Chigurh’s characters where you see a glint of humanity.
Chigurh is a bad man, that much is clear. He kills people for money. But does he enjoy it? I believe that Chigurh is a man who is good at his job, but doesn’t necessarily want to do it. He perceives himself as a necessity in society. If he wasn’t there to do his job, then somehow life would be …show more content…
You can see it in his face, part of this can be attributed to Javier Bardem’s amazing performance. But from the look in his eyes and the precautions he takes to not get any blood on him. Chigurh believes himself to be a pawn in a much bigger, crueler plan.
This can be evidenced by his signature coin toss, and the dialogue near the end of the movie with Carla Jean Moss.
Carla Jean Moss: The coin don’t have no say. It’s just you.
Anton Chigurh: Well, I got here the same way the coin did.
For Anton, this is a game of fate. People may perceive him as evil, but he sees himself as a necessary evil. For Anton the coin is a symbol, it represents the fact that he doesn’t have a choice. These types of things are not up to him. Even after he kills, he makes sure that he is clean, takes off his socks, and goes into a sort off premeditative state. By the end of the movie Anton experiences a change. After the car crash near the end, Anton is showed kindness from two teenagers riding on bikes. They show compassion and sympathy, they help him out. Something I don’t think many people have given Anton recently. We see a new side of Anton that we haven’t see for
But is it true? What a character is perceived as is often different from what he actually is, you can expect this from an author like Cormac McCarthy. Because there are small hints in Chigurh’s characters where you see a glint of humanity.
Chigurh is a bad man, that much is clear. He kills people for money. But does he enjoy it? I believe that Chigurh is a man who is good at his job, but doesn’t necessarily want to do it. He perceives himself as a necessity in society. If he wasn’t there to do his job, then somehow life would be …show more content…
You can see it in his face, part of this can be attributed to Javier Bardem’s amazing performance. But from the look in his eyes and the precautions he takes to not get any blood on him. Chigurh believes himself to be a pawn in a much bigger, crueler plan.
This can be evidenced by his signature coin toss, and the dialogue near the end of the movie with Carla Jean Moss.
Carla Jean Moss: The coin don’t have no say. It’s just you.
Anton Chigurh: Well, I got here the same way the coin did.
For Anton, this is a game of fate. People may perceive him as evil, but he sees himself as a necessary evil. For Anton the coin is a symbol, it represents the fact that he doesn’t have a choice. These types of things are not up to him. Even after he kills, he makes sure that he is clean, takes off his socks, and goes into a sort off premeditative state. By the end of the movie Anton experiences a change. After the car crash near the end, Anton is showed kindness from two teenagers riding on bikes. They show compassion and sympathy, they help him out. Something I don’t think many people have given Anton recently. We see a new side of Anton that we haven’t see for