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Definition of Motif
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the central themes of a book... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of related symbols, help develop the... read full definition
A motif is an element or idea that recurs throughout a work of literature. Motifs, which are often collections of... read full definition
Chapter 1
Explanation and Analysis—Guns as Holy Objects:
McCarthy includes detailed descriptions of firearms in nearly every scene in No Country for Old Men, going beyond simply calling them "rifles," "shotguns," or "pistols." Each gun is spoken of with a loving, reverent tone, the narrator taking care to reference make, model, action, bullet velocity, etc. Take, for instance, the following scene from Chapter 1, in which McCarthy takes the time to describe Moss's hunting rifle in detail:
The rifle had a Canjar trigger set to nine ounces and he pulled the rifle and the boot toward him with great care and sighted again and jacked the crosshairs slightly up the back of the animal standing most broadly to him. He knew the exact drop of the bullet in hundred yard increments.
The facts McCarthy chooses to include about Moss's rifle display an intimate, even reverent knowledge of firearms, down to the specific trigger model and pull weight. This intimate knowledge repeats itself in the descriptions of nearly every gun in the novel, reflecting both the characters' and society's affinity for objects of violence and power. Such objects are treated with care and reverence both by Moss and Chigurh, transferring power and agency to the beholder. In this modern landscape, guns are practically the reigning deities—recall that Sheriff Bell remembers many old-timers in his profession who refused to carry guns.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Humans as Animals:
Throughout No Country for Old Men, McCarthy often places human beings in the position of animals and vice versa: Chigurh kills humans with a cattle gun and hunts Moss like an animal, bodies are carried out of the desert on a flatbed like one might pile up animal remains, etc. This motif serves as commentary on the dehumanizing nature of violence—especially between strangers.
Note the following passage from Chapter 1, when Chigurh is first introduced to the audience:
Just walked in the door. Sheriff he had some sort of thing on him like one of them oxygen tanks for emphysema or whatever. Then he had a hose that run down the inside of his sleeve and went to one of them stunguns like they use at the slaughterhouse. Yessir. Well that's what it looks like. You can see it when you get in. Yessir. I got it covered. Yessir.
One of the first things the Sheriff's deputy notes about Chigurh is that he carries a stungun, "like they use at the slaughterhouse." This constitutes readers' first introduction to Chigurh, and the principal object used to characterize him is an instrument used to slaughter animals. This preempts readers' understanding of Chigurh's worldview. He is a violent man but not a passionate one: he is detached from his victims, viewing them as a rancher would a head of cattle.
Related Themes:
Explanation and Analysis—Eyes:
In No Country for Old Men, McCarthy dwells frequently on eyes as a metaphor through which to meditate on human morality and internal life. In his monologue at the beginning of Chapter 1, Bell first mentions the cliched aphorism about eyes being windows to the soul:
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I dont know what them eyes was the windows to and I guess I'd as soon not know. But there is another view of the world out there and other eyes to see it and that's where this is goin. It has done brought me to a place in my life I would not of thought I'd of come to.
In another example of this motif from Chapter 4, Chigurh forces a man to look him in the eyes as he dies, seeing himself reflected in them:
Dont look away. I want you to look at me.
He looked at Chigurh. He looked at the new day paling all about. Chigurh shot him through the forehead and then stood watching. Watching the capillaries break up in his eyes. The light receding. Watching his own image degrade in that squandered world.
If eyes are the windows to the soul, as Bell posits at the beginning of the novel, Chigurh appears to acquire some kind of invigorating energy by watching human beings' souls fade in their eyes as they pass away, as Chigurh's own "image" degrades in the "squandered world" of a life he has taken. He acts as a kind of soulless vampire himself, draining the life from those around him in order that he might see his own soul, his own image, through their eyes.
Related Themes:
Chapter 4
Explanation and Analysis—Eyes:
In No Country for Old Men, McCarthy dwells frequently on eyes as a metaphor through which to meditate on human morality and internal life. In his monologue at the beginning of Chapter 1, Bell first mentions the cliched aphorism about eyes being windows to the soul:
They say the eyes are the windows to the soul. I dont know what them eyes was the windows to and I guess I'd as soon not know. But there is another view of the world out there and other eyes to see it and that's where this is goin. It has done brought me to a place in my life I would not of thought I'd of come to.
In another example of this motif from Chapter 4, Chigurh forces a man to look him in the eyes as he dies, seeing himself reflected in them:
Dont look away. I want you to look at me.
He looked at Chigurh. He looked at the new day paling all about. Chigurh shot him through the forehead and then stood watching. Watching the capillaries break up in his eyes. The light receding. Watching his own image degrade in that squandered world.
If eyes are the windows to the soul, as Bell posits at the beginning of the novel, Chigurh appears to acquire some kind of invigorating energy by watching human beings' souls fade in their eyes as they pass away, as Chigurh's own "image" degrades in the "squandered world" of a life he has taken. He acts as a kind of soulless vampire himself, draining the life from those around him in order that he might see his own soul, his own image, through their eyes.
Related Themes:
