Saturday, May 23, 2015

In the film, "No Country for Old Men" in what way does it reflect a 'new criminal' that law enforcement agencies may be ill equipped to deal with"?

In the film adaptation of No Country for Old
Men
, Anton Chigurh is a force of evil and revenge that no one can deal with:
not law enforcement, not Wells, not Moss, not his drug-lord
bosses.


He is very much like The Misfit in Flannery
O'Connor's "A Good Man is Hard to Find" in that he is a divine evil.  He is a noble
nihilist who kills those who are materialistic and self-serving.  He is regulated by a
simple concept of fate (an old coin), and he is willing to kill civilians (Moss'
wife).


In this way, he is very much like a modern terrorist
whose demands transcend those of conventional law enforcement.  They rely on a set of
revenge principles which call for punishment of all (civilians alike).  Here's his
archetypal profile:


The TERRORIST: the dark knight, he
serves a warped code of honor.  Self-righteous, he believes in his own virtue, and
judges all around him by a strict set of laws.   The end will always justify his
nefarious means, and no conventional morality will give him pause.  Don’t try to appeal
to his sense of justice – his does not resemble
yours.


Wells says it
best:


No no. No. You don't understand You can't
make a deal with him. Even if you gave him the money he'd still kill you. He's a
peculiar man. You could even say that he has principles. Principles that transcend money
or drugs or anything like that. He's not like you. He's not even like
me.

The only survivor, ironically, is Bell--the
old law man.  Chigurh has a chance to kill him in the hotel at the end.  Still, Bell and
his buddy do not know what motivates this new kind of criminal: they are always a step
behind him.

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