No Country for Old Men: Symbols

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.

Chigurh’s Weapon

Chigurh’s weapon, which is similar to a bolt cattle gun used in slaughterhouses, represents the way Chigurh treats his victims: as little more than animals that are disposable and interchangeable. The symbolism extends to show what little regard Chigurh has for the people who cross him. Instead of viewing them as humans worthy of some measure of recognition, he sees anyone who gets in his way as an obstacle that must be disposed of. When law enforcement officials encounter Chigurh’s first victim, they are stumped as to what weapon was used, which further reinforces the idea of Chigurh as a mysterious figure.

Chigurh’s Coin Flip

Chigurh’s coin flip, which he performs with the gas station owner and with Carla Jean, symbolizes his philosophy about fate and free will. Chigurh believes that what happens in any person’s life is the result of choices they have made along the way. When he offers the gas station owner and Carla Jean the opportunity to call the coin flip—and spare their lives—he doesn’t believe they can change their fate. Instead, the coin becomes an instrument of fate. It will reflect the fate—to live or die—that has already been decided by their previous choices.

Money

Money lies at the heart of No Country for Old Men, and it symbolizes the possibility of a better life but also danger and criminality. The desire to possess a small fortune is what leads Moss to steal the briefcase of money. Moss lives with his young wife in a trailer park and works a blue-collar job, so the promise of millions of dollars is too significant for him to resist. Instead of bringing Moss and Carla Jean an easier life, however, his possession of the money eventually leads to their deaths. The money in the briefcase is so closely linked to murder and criminality, having been part of a drug deal gone wrong, that it comes as little surprise that Moss is unable to benefit from it. The money truly is “blood money.”

Dreams

Carla Jean and Bell narrate their dreams, which both signify these characters’ attempts to feel an inner voice in their lives through another human being. Carla Jean’s dream, that she will meet a man at her new job at Wal-Mart, stems from her desire to be cared for and loved unconditionally. Abandoned by her parents, Carla Jean was raised by her grandmother, and her trauma around that manifests itself in this dream. On the other hand, Bell has two dreams about his father—in the first, he loses the money his father gave him, and in the second, his father has gone ahead on a snowy horseback ride and will have a warm fire waiting for him. Taken together, these dreams symbolize Bell’s anxiety at disappointing his father but also his hope of becoming a better man someday.

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