Portrayal of Aggression and Brutality in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men

Abstract

Cormac McCarthy is known for his unique writing style. His plain style with no punctuation is a benchmark for him. He deals with ordinary happenings of life and for him, literature is not an opening for dealing with complexities and unknown matters instead, it is a way concerning life and death. In this novel No Country for Old Men (2005), the author has challenged the readers about the difficulty of existence in a modern world. The title itself suggests that violence and valueless living spoil the system of leading a peaceful life. The lack of human quality can be seen through the events as the novel moves further. Among the three main characters of the novel, the innocent character is Ed Tom Bell, for whom the title of the novel aptly suits. The title itself suggests that this world is not meant for someone with a timid heart like Ed but it is for the people like Chigurh. The setting is the United States- Mexico border. This paper thus focuses on the violence and valueless life of the society which makes an individual a mere toy of fate.