The tale takes place in Texas, in a county called Terrell, not far from the border between the United States and Mexico. Drug dealers get into an argument, which results in a shootout where everyone is killed but one guy who is seriously injured. Although there are numerous dead people present when Moss, who is performing his daily antelope hunting responsibilities, arrives on the scene, the wounded man begs for water from Moss. (Manson and Stewart 28). He discovers a truck full of heroin while searching for water in the area, and when he turns to look at the other side, he notices a guy perched on a tree. On approaching him, Moss realizes that the man is carrying a bag full of money, worth $2.4 million. Nonetheless, he is driven by some force inside him and decides to take the money and leave for home. He later returns with a jug of water for the wounded man because he was compassionate about him. Surprisingly, he finds him dead since he was shot severally and looking around he senses some danger (Cooper 128). However, he flees to save his life when the gunmen were pursuing him. Therefore, Chigurh, who is assigned the task of recovering the cash pursues Moss and murders him later on together with his wife. Also, Carson Wells was looking for the same money although he was on Moss’s side. Therefore, the essay focuses on examining and critical analyzing the concepts of the story, No Country for Old Men
. More importantly, the essay will delve into answering the question, “How much money is enough to lose everything you know and love?”
To begin with, the essay will look at the concept of cause and effect as clearly brought out by the author in the story. It targets to explain why Moss, who plays a major role here, chooses to take the money having in mind the consequences that he is likely to face later on. Moss, who arrives and finds the money in crime scene picks it and takes to his home (Cooper 130). However, there are several factors that made him take this action without thinking further. One of them is the poor quality of life that he lives. He has just married his young wife, who is only 19 years of age, and does not have any strong source of income in his life. As evident in the story, he tries to look for food for his wife and himself by going out to hunt, so that they do not go to bed hungry. Therefore, getting this money at least guarantees him a chance to live a relatively better life in the society compared to the current one. Secondly, Moss is driven by the greed inside him, to escape with the money. He even forgets that there is a wounded man in need of water, when he realizes the bag full of money (Estes 179). Despite the fact that he does not even know the origin of the cash, his greed guides him to take the blood money to his home. He satisfies the desires of his heart by taking the cash to his wife back at home, hoping that their future would be damn better. Nonetheless, Chigurh orders him later on to surrender the money to him, because if he fails to take the instructions he will lose his wife. Even so, the orders fall on a deaf ear and Moss intentionally ignores the request (Manson and Stewart 98). Contrary to his expectations, his actions land him in trouble as he finds himself into an unexpected battle with the drug dealers. This then means that, the effects of the actions become adverse; he pays the price for taking the blood money. Sadly, Moss loses his life after being shot by a group of Mexicans, who are also in dire need of the drug money. In subsequent instances, his wife, Carla Jean and a friend Carson Wells are shot dead by one of the lethal murderers by the name Chigurh, who already has the instructions of recovering the cash by using any means from the owner.
Moreover, the issue of greed in humanity is clearly outlined by several characters in the story. As such, almost all individuals in this case possess the trait of greediness. Moss is a victim of greed depicted by his actions to picks the bag full of money and escapes with it to his home. This lands him into trouble later on because he is murdered together with his wife and losses the money. Also, the band of the Mexicans portrays their greediness when they shoot and murder Moss when they realize that he has the money (Cooper 136). Additionally, Carson Wells offers to give Moss together with his wife protection in exchange of the moneybag, when he realizes that he has the $2.4 million at his home. Lastly, Chigurh shows his greed when he swears to recover the money from Moss using all the means available. However, he succeeds in his plans after carrying out some bizarre actions, including killing some individuals in cold blood.
The concept of risk versus reward is evident in the story where individuals risk their lives at the expense of attaining what they desire. However, the rewards are always not pleasing. To begin with, Moss risks to take the money from the drug deal that were double crossed and at the end the reward he gets at last is being killed (Estes 179). Also, Wells takes the risk of giving Moss protection in exchange of the money but when this comes into realization, he also receives his reward, which is murder. Lastly, Chigurh after being promised some good reward by the money owner, takes all the risks including killing every concerned individual, so as to retrieve the cash.
Furthermore, Moss represents some humanity in the society. When he realizes that the wounded man in the scene was in urgent need of water, he decides to take him some water despite the fact that it is dark. However, he gets disappointed on his arrival because he finds that the man he was hoping to rescue is already dead. He later escapes to save his life after the deadly gang pursues him, while shooting at him. Moreover, he expresses humanity on his wife when he tells her to go and stay with her mother for some time. He does this because he has value for life, not only his own, but also for other people (Manson and Stewart 108). Therefore, according to his actions, Moss represents that group of good people in the society, despite the temptation of picking the money. There was no way that he could be that bad person, because some of his actions expose more on who he is in the society. He plays a bigger role in ensuring that everyone lives in peace although some crooks, Chigurh never go hand in hand with anything that revolves around peace.
Finally, it reaches an instance when even good people in the society come out fully and show their greed for certain things. Good people like Moss, find themselves in the traps of owning large amounts of money without having any knowledge of where the cash comes from. Also, Wells is a good person and a retiree from the army who has a better understanding of the murderer called Chigurh. However, he is filled with greed to own the cash by coming up with an excuse of giving Moss protection against any enemy that will try to hurt him (Cooper 139). Considering the group of rotten people in the society, Chigurh, the evil-doer exposes his greed by killing a number of people to get the money back into the owner’s hands.
Lastly, it is not a good thing to take calculated risks at all. This is because the consequences or rather the issues that are involved in the process are always hurting to any caring soul. For instance, Chigurh, the murderer takes some calculated risks in order to regain the money but in the process, he kills many people and hurts others. This is a venture that is not recommended in any society at all.
Works cited
Cooper, Lydia R. "The Unpunishing of Anton Chigurh: Fraternity as the Final Frontier in No Country for Old Men." Masculinities in Literature of the American West. Palgrave Macmillan US, 2016. 127-146.
Estes, Andrew Keller. "No Country for Old Men." Spatial Practices 16 (2013): 179.
Manson, Michael, and Robert Scott Stewart. "" Misplaced Men: Aging and Change in Coetzee's Disgrace and McCarthy's No Country for Old Men"." Janus Head 14.2 (2015).
