Research Paper on the film No Country For Old Men - Essay Example

Using the critical mythological approach in analyzing the film’s content and how the events lead to one another, it is possible to entertain the existence of strong or invincible people despite having the fragile nature of humans, and how differing ideas regarding higher beings, destinies or fate, and the laws of the universe control the thoughts and viewpoints of individuals, which are also universal themes seen in older or classical stories. Evasion of and Facing People, Circumstances, and Death Some of the most compelling stories include parts wherein the main protagonist escapes getting hunted down and killed by adversaries, of having the need to face the enemies, and the possibility of ending up dead.

This is an archetypal storyline of heroes and their adventures or quests, which in a way builds the heroic character and nature of the main protagonists (Guerin 153). . rchetypal predisposition, wherein there is an evasion of circumstances when a hero initially stops to think and plan, to meditate or do retrospective thinking in order to transform and become better (Guerin 166). On the other hand the need to face people, circumstances and death as the consequence of events are shown in Moss’s unexpected death not from Chigurh but from a group of Mexicans shows how he faces death as the circumstance of seeing the results of a drug deal gone wrong and holding on to money he does not rightfully own right from the start, of Chigurh facing divine punishment after getting hit by a car and nearly dying right after scenes imply that he killed Moss’s wife, Carla Jean, and of Sheriff Bell having to face the reality that he has to let go of some things and move on with his life as his retired uncle explains to him(“No Country”).

While not in their entirety seen as an adventure or heroic story, the individual lives of Moss, Chigurh, and Sheriff Bell reflect similarities with the quests of mythical heroes, of which some may succeed such as Chigurh, some may fail such as Moss and his death, and some momentarily put it on hold such as Sheriff Bell’s thoughts on resignation. Invincibility and Weakness Invincibility and weakness are often bound to each other, and usually employed in some, if not most classical works to remind people that despite all perfections within humans there will always be a hint of a weakness to ground them as mere mortals (Guerin 153).

The Coen Brothers exploited this archetypal image of invincibility and weakness in developing Chigurh, the main antagonist in No Country for Old Men. Chigurh’s character is the definition of a scary, amoral, and dangerous antagonist that cannot be persuaded to spare lives by any means