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Essay analysis on no country for old men
Essay analysis on no country for old men
No country for old men fate
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In the novel No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy, the increased brutality and violence along the Texas-Mexico border leads to various moral conflicts among the citizens as well as authority figures. Because of this ominous presence, the characters, especially the older men, are forced to combat such violence and brutality, with varying degrees of success. Although experience and ethical obligations can allow for some success, it is ultimately achieved by those that are able to conform to such brutality rather than fight it. In the novel, Anton Chigurh represents the new era of men in Texas through his defiance of law and justice whereas Sheriff Bell stands for the old values of the country and Llewelyn Moss holds a position in the world between the two ultimatums. Throughout the novel, the drastic societal alterations affect characters differently depending on their moral values and physical capabilities thus revealing how the country has become too violent and brutal for the men who rely on justice …show more content…
As the state becomes more violent and brutal, some characters are able to prosper, while others are defeated by the lack of law and humanity. Anton Chigurh is the epitome of the what Texas is evolving into. His lack of authority and humanity allow him to adopt the new ways and accomplish his prospects without struggle. On the other hand, Sheriff Bell’s reliance on the old ways ultimately prove to be inefficient in handling this society. Between these two ultimatums is Llewelyn Moss, whose ignorance of what society has transformed into eventually leads to his demise. Ultimately, those that were able to conform to such a brutal society were able to thrive, whereas those that relied on the old ways of law and ethics were eradicated as they could not keep up with
The book, No Country for Old Men, switches from first person to third person perspective; the first person perspective coming only from Sheriff Bell. It is with these first person accounts that the reader understands why Bell is saddened by the new world around him. He tells of a story he read in the newspaper about teachers answering a survey of what the biggest problems were with teaching in schools; the biggest problems these teachers could name were: “talking in class and running in hallways. Chewing gum. Copying homework.” The story in the paper then states that forty years later the survey was given to teachers and the biggest problems were: “Rape, arson, murder. Drugs. Suicide.” Bell is horrified by this story in the paper and is in disbelief when people tell him he is just “getting old” w...
Cormac McCarthy was wise in choosing the Southwest as the setting for a novel of unprecedented bloodshed. No other land would have done McCarthy’s ideas justice, given that only the Southwest harbored such wanton violence. A ...
Somewhere out in the Old West wind kicks up dust off a lone road through a lawless town, a road once dominated by men with gun belts attached at the hip, boots upon their feet and spurs that clanged as they traversed the dusty road. The gunslinger hero, a man with a violent past and present, a man who eventually would succumb to the progress of the frontier, he is the embodiment of the values of freedom and the land the he defends with his gun. Inseparable is the iconography of the West in the imagination of Americans, the figure of the gunslinger is part of this iconography, his law was through the gun and his boots with spurs signaled his arrival, commanding order by way of violent intentions. The Western also had other iconic figures that populated the Old West, the lawman, in contrast to the gunslinger, had a different weapon to yield, the law. In the frontier, his belief in law and order as well as knowledge and education, brought civility to the untamed frontier. The Western was and still is the “essential American film genre, the cornerstone of American identity.” (Holtz p. 111) There is a strong link between America’s past and the Western film genre, documenting and reflecting the nations changes through conflict in the construction of an expanding nation. Taking the genres classical conventions, such as the gunslinger, and interpret them into the ideology of America. Thus The Western’s classical gunslinger, the personification of America’s violent past to protect the freedoms of a nation, the Modernist takes the familiar convention and buries him to signify that societies attitude has change towards the use of diplomacy, by way of outmoding the gunslinger in favor of the lawman, taming the frontier with civility.
All the King’s Men, written by Robert Penn Warren, is set deep in the south during the 1930’s. This is a story of the rise and fall of a political titan. Willie Stark comes from poverty to become the governor of his state. He forces his enemies into submission by blackmails, repeated threats, and bullies them. He creates a series of liberal reforms that lay heavy tax burdens on the rich and lifts the money issue off of the poor farmers. His foil character Sam MacMurfee persistently searches for way to ruin the career of Willie Starks. Sam MacMurfee has thugs and powerful political allies deep in his pockets. The two characters remind the reader of corrupt figures in politics such as the famous Boss Tweed.
On March 3, 1915 the movie The Birth of a Nation was released at the Liberty Theatre in New York City. This film was financed, filmed, and released by the Epoch Producing Corporation of D.W. Griffith and Harry T. Aitken. It was one of the first films to ever use deep-focus shots, night photography, and to be explicitly controversial with the derogatory view of blacks.
As a person grows to join society, they will inevitably run into the corruption of the world. The beautifully written To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee is a classic piece of American literature that explains this part of life. Maycomb County, Alabama is the home to southerners who seem friendly but are generally offenders of bigotry. Throughout the story, Lee describes the coexistence between good and evil in these people. People are sometimes considered either good or bad. In an imperfect world, there is some ratio between the two. Through her characters, Lee makes the reader understand the complexity of good and bad of people and society.
It has been said that the Declaration of Independence was more democratic and for equality and the Constitution was more for a republic that benefited only some people. The Declaration was idealistic the Constitution realistic. That 1776 gave us liberty and 1787 gave us order. Although as unfair as it may sound this seems to be true. After gaining liberty this country had to establish a system that would have order.
Solomon Northup was a black man who was born a free man at a time when slavery was still legal in America. He was born in Minerva, New York, in the year 1808 (Northup 19). Northup’s father, Mintus, was originally a slave of the Northup family in Rhode Island. He was freed when the family relocated to New York. When he was growing up as a young adult, Northup helped his father with farming chores and became a raftsman for a short while on the waterways of New York. As an adult, Northup married Anne Hampton, who was of mixed heritage on Christmas day of 1829. Together, they had three children. Over the years Northup became a famous fiddle player, and this gave him recognition in his town.
The old proverb “the Pen is mightier than the sword” (Edward Bulwer-Lytton, Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy) still holds significance in protecting of public rights. Words such as freedom, and liberty engendered the idea for democracy. Such words formed into sentences and paragraphs enlightened the public to take action against tyranny and corruption. Freedom of the press is what ensured the general masses of their public rights. The exemplary case in which the freedom of the press played a role was the endeavors of Woodward and Bernstein to unravel the corrupted politics behind the Watergate Scandal. The movie All the President’s Men depicts the proceedings of the Watergate scandal, the scheme to attack the crux of democracy: “ the open election”. Also how the two journalists of the Washington Post progressed to unveil the relationship between the Watergate Burglary and the White House. On one hand, the movie represents the role of the media in its obligation to convey the truth to the masses. On the other hand, the movie reflects political corruption and conspiracy. The accomplishment of Woodward and Bernstein presents the importance of the interaction between the media, the government, and the general masses of society. The role of the media is not only to intervene between the State and the public, but also to take account of public ideas and to apply those ideas to new policies. Also, the media acts as a safeguard to prevent the corruption of the State. Thus, the Watergate scandal signifies the significance of the media as an intermediary between the government and the public mass.
Juror #1 originally thought that the boy was guilty. He was convinced that the evidence was concrete enough to convict the boy. He continued to think this until the jury voted the first time and saw that one of the jurors thought that the boy was innocent. Then throughout the movie, all of the jurors were slowly convinced that the boy was no guilty.
The influence of the media on women is not unknown, but it was especially prevalent in the 1960s. According to David Croteau and William Hoynes, both professors of sociology, “Media images of women and men reflect and reproduce a whole set of stereotypical but changing gender roles” (quoted in Mahrdt 1) and, as society changes and opinions are altered, television shows adapt. However, the television show Mad Men is unique because it does not show life today, but the life of the 1960s. It shows what life was like for the women who lived during a time when the “feminine mystique” controlled society.
Menace II Society, a film about a young Black man who has lived the “hustler” lifestyle and is struggling to leave it, is a perfect example of deviance as the main character, Caine Lawson, and the characters around him violate many of society’s norms. Throughout the film, the characters swear incessantly, carry around guns and drugs as most people would carry around cell phones, commit street crimes, especially burglary and mugging, on a regular basis, and beat and kill people unscrupulously. The following quote captures just how deviant Caine and the other characters in this film were, “[Caine] went into the store just to get a beer. Came out an accessory to murder and armed robbery. It's funny like that in the hood sometimes. You never knew what was gonna happen, or when” (Albert Hughes). Why would Caine consider these crimes “funny”, or rather, so insignificant? What caused Caine to become so deviant? The answers to such questions were woven into the plot of the film and will be discussed in the following paragraphs.
In "The Thematic Paradigm", Robert Ray explains how there are two distinctly different heroes, the outlaw hero and the official hero. The official hero embraces common values and traditional beliefs, while the outlaw has a clear sense of right and wrong but operates above the law (Ray). Ray explains how the role of an outlaw hero has many traits. "The attractiveness of the outlaw hero's childishness and propensity to whims, tantrums, and emotional decisions derived from America's cult of childhood", states Ray. (309) Ray also says, "To the outlaw hero's inconsistence on private standards of right and wrong, the official hero offered the admonition, you cannot take the law into your own hands." (312) The values of these two traditional heroes contrasts clearly. Society favors the outlaw hero because we identify with that character more. We see ourselves more so in the outlaw hero than in the official hero. The outlaw hero has the "childlike" qualities that most of us wish we had as adults. To civilians it may seem that the outlaw hero lives more of a fantasy life that we all wish to have.
The characters of the book reside in present day Indiana. The main characters Hazel and Augustus are two teenagers who both live in Indianapolis in average homes with their families. Hazel spends a lot of time in the hospital and her house due to her cancer. She meets Augustus at a support group in her church and they start spending a lot of time together. Hazel shared her favorite book with Augustus and this book stops mid-sentence with no ending. They both love the book and contacted the author who lives in Amsterdam for answers about how the story ends. The author of this book, Peter Van Houten denies giving them any information because he does not trust that Hazel and Augustus wouldn’t just share it on the internet or record the telephone call. Peter Van Houten says he would only tell them in person. It becomes Hazel’s dream to go Amsterdam which is where Van Houten lives. Augustus uses his one “wish”, from the Genie foundation (which grants wishes to kids with cancer) for him and Hazel to go to Amsterdam. On the plane to Amsterdam, Augustus tells Hazel that he is in love with her. Amsterdam is described as being picture perfect and the opposite of their hometown. I think that the characters felt confined and limited in Indiana but were set free in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam they finally speak to Van Houten, who was an extreme disappointment to them, visit tourist sites and have dinner by the canal. The major climax occurs in Amsterdam when Augustus reveals to Hazel that his cancer has returned and is going to kill him.
I believe that we can all agree that the movie Forrest Gump is an American classic. So what’s so special about Forrest Gump? A good starting point is to look at Forrest Gump, the character, instead of the movie as a whole. To just say "he's simple," is an understatement. Forrest is a man who has mighty morals, firm loyalty, and an amazing heart. What is intriguing about Forrest is how he is free of prejudice and judgment of those close to him. He accepts Jenny for who she is regardless of the situation she is in. He simply sees past it. Likewise, his admiration and respect for Lieutenant Dan doesn't change after he becomes disabled. The film displays many issues of race, but with Forrest and his friend Bubba, it’s a nonfactor. So much so that when Lieutenant Dan asks them, "Are you twins?" -- Forrest's "We are not relations, Sir" is said so matter of fact. To Forrest, it's obvious they're not brothers because they're not related, not because one is black and the other is white.