Cormac McCarthy – No Country for Old Men – Comment

Has the world changed, so much so, that all values and principles, basic manners, all respect for ourselves and our fellow human beings, has diminished to such an extent, to where: " Evil flourishes, because Good men do Nothing."?  

 If this is truly the case, as suggested in McCarthy's book, as a civilization, we are doomed to mayhem, lost causes, and no respect for the past. 

 
One could say that McCarthy's book is simply violent; though the violence is a smack in the face as to where we, as a civilization, are going. 
 
The violence is a drastic representation of our current Western society: children brought up without values, relationships that last so long to then die, leaving collateral damage, namely the children. Grandparents from the last generation left to bring up the children. But as Bell, the protagonist points out, "Who will take care of those children as responsibility has gone by the wayside". (Paraphrased). 
 
McCarthy is a clever and deeply gifted writer. This book is not about an old man yearning or lamenting for the good days gone past. The book is about basic decency, manners, and respect gone somewhere into the fog...people, in general, including the children, seem to not care anymore, except for themselves. 
 
If you have apathy in the masses, Evil grows like weeds in your garden. 
 
No Country for Old Men, for those who can still read, is a wakeup call to DO something because our world is headed to Hell in a hand basket. 
 
This beautifully written tale is about greed, chance, true evil, the chance to do the right thing, and the collateral damage that evil will create when not stopped. 
 
But does anyone care anymore unless it directly touches their lives? 
 
In general, from my experience, the answer is an absolute...NO! 
 
The plot to this story is known to most and would be redundant to summarize. 
 
The Cohen brother's film adaptation of the novel never strays and is right on the mark. McCarthy's book, though, cuts deep, made the issues it raised more real, and that most Western countries belong to the no responsible waste land of a drug-ridden world. 
 

It is a depressing novel, yet in the end, Bell's dream gives us Hope that there is Light in the fog ahead...for all.