What do you say to a man that by his own admission has no soul? Why would you say anything? I’ve thought about it a good deal. But he wasnt nothin compared to what was comin down the pike.
People are taught to respect others and look for something good and kind, even in those who we don’t like at all. Of course, not all people follow these rules, but still there many who try. Sheriff Ed Tom Bell is one of them. One could easily imagine how shocked he was, how his idea of the world was shattered, when he met that young sociopath, who killed his girlfriend just because he wanted to kill someone. The man didn’t try to make excuses; on the contrary, he “knew he was goin to hell” and didn't care. The sheriff didn’t know what to do, what to say to him, because “what do you say to a man that by his own admission has no soul?” After that short but rather unpleasant encounter, Bell started wondering whether he would be able to work any more.
People complain about the bad things that happen to em that they dont deserve but they seldom mention the good. About what they done to deserve them things. I dont recall that I ever give the good Lord all that much cause to smile on me. But he did.
In a chapter introduction, Bell reflects on the good fortune he's enjoyed in his life, specifically regardinig his marriage to Loretta. He figures he's not done enough good in the world to deserve a partner as loving and compassionate as Loretta. This quote comes at a time in the novel prior to Bell revealing that he abandoned his unit in WWII, which is a sustained source of guilt in his life.
"They didnt know what had happened. They didnt know that he was dead. One of them said that I had put a sleeper hold on him and then the others all said that. They were trying to get him to sit up. They were slapping him and trying to get him to sit up. An hour later I was pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy outside of Sonora Texas and I let him take me into town in handcuffs. I’m not sure why I did this but I think I wanted to see if I could extricate myself by an act of will. Because I believe that one can. That such a thing is possible. But it was a foolish thing to do. A vain thing to do. Do you understand?"
Chigurh makes this speech right before he kills Carson Wells. He's explaining to Wells his recent journey of self-discovery wherein he's come to think of himself as an agent of fate. Chigurh seems to recognize the element of grandeur in his story, admitting that he acted vainly when he tested to see if he could extricate himself from the hands of the law "by an act of will," however, his success only reinforces his delusion that he's impervious to death.
Finally told me, said: I dont like the way this country is headed. I want my granddaughter to be able to have an abortion. And I said well mam I dont think you got any worries about the way the country is headed. The way I see it goin I dont have much doubt but what she’ll be able to have an abortion. I’m goin to say that not only will she be able to have an abortion, she’ll be able to have you put to sleep. Which pretty much ended the conversation.
In a chapter introduction, Bell recounts a confrontation with a woman he shared a table with at a benefit dinner he attended with his wife Loretta. He explains that the woman was expressing her concerns that America was moving too slowly to advance progressive policy, which is almost exactly the opposite of Sheriff Bell's concerns. Bell then demonstrates his fear of certain social policies with strong undercurrents of religious opposition by equating a woman's right to have access to safe abortions to legalizing euthanasia of elders.
What I was sayin the other day about the papers. Here last week they found this couple out in California they would rent out rooms to old people and then kill em and bury em in the yard and cash their social security checks. They’d torture em first, I dont know why. Maybe their television was broke.
Bell recalls a recent case in California where a couple running an inn would kill old-aged lodgers and cash their social security checks. He then offers the nihilistic explanation as to why they would torture their victims before killing them, that perhaps "their television was broke" (124), suggesting that the killers tortured their victims out of boredom, and by extension suggesting that television acts as a feeding tube for deranged minds.
I think if you were Satan and you were settin around tryin to think up somethin that would just bring the human race to its knees what you would probably come up with is narcotics.
In a chapter introduction, Ed Tom Bell reinforces his belief in moral decay and the evil nature of narcotics from a Christian perspective.
"It’s not about knowin where you are. It’s about thinkin you got there without takin anything with you. Your notions about startin over. Or anybody’s. You dont start over. That’s what it’s about. Ever step you take is forever. You cant make it go away. None of it."
Llewelyn makes this speech to a fifteen-year-old hitchhiker he picks up on the interstate. She's on her way out to California, and he's trying to instill in her the permanence of every choice she makes in life. Llewelyn may be inspired by the fact that he's recently made an irreversible misstep that will follow him for the rest of his numbered days, and he hopes that his example can help this young person avoid making the same mistakes.
"I had no say in the matter. Every moment in your life is a turning and every one a choosing. Somewhere you made a choice. All followed to this. The accounting is scrupulous. The shape is drawn. No line can be erased. I had no belief in your ability to move a coin to your bidding. How could you? A person’s path through the world seldom changes and even more seldom will it change abruptly. And the shape of your path was visible from the beginning."
Anton Chigurh makes a speech to Carla Jean before he kills her that is uncannily similar to the speech Llewelyn makes to the young woman he picks up on the interstate. Chigurh's speech focuses less on the free will aspect of choices, emphasizing instead that everyone's path is predestined.
It was like a ballplayer told me one time he said that if he had some slight injury and it bothered him a little bit, nagged at him, he generally played better. It kept his mind focused on one thing instead of a hundred. I can understand that. Not that it changes anything.
Bell reflects on why it took him so long to feel the need to express his guilt about abandoning his unit in Germany. He proposes that this nagging guilt helped him focus; that without it, his mind would be scattered in the direction of countless stresses, which would be more of a detriment than living with this one significant blemish.
"We didnt have nothin to give to em to take over there. If we’d sent em without rifles I dont know as they’d of been all that much worse off. You cant go to war like that. You cant go to war without God. I dont know what is goin to happen when the next one comes. I surely dont."
When Ed Tom visits Llewelyn's father after Llewelyn dies, the two men discuss the differences between being a veteran of WWII and serving in the Vietnam War. Llewelyn's father reinforces Bell's view that without God, people lose their will to live.
