Brontë’s Jane Eyre, a classic bildungsroman novel, was applauded for its unique perspective on women and its explicit symbolism and literary devices (Brontë i-iii). In a simultaneous similarity and contrast, McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men is a critical and commercial success, providing an alternative to literary explicitism with minimalist text, instead implicating much of the novel’s portrayals of relationships, personalities, and descriptions in liberal usage of implicit language. Even the main characters, despite all having underlying values and personalities, are compressed into three separate archetypes more commonly found in folklore than in comparable modern stories (Cooper). Ultimately, like Brontë, McCarthy masterly weaves such elements into a coming-of-age story for the main character, but instead of the realization of happiness, the main character instead faces defeat with the realization of the changing of the …show more content…
Bell increasingly becomes wary of new events and only finds solace in the sheriffs of old, who have never even wore a gun on duty (McClure). He eventually quits on account of that fact. Bell quitting has nothing to do with his lack of courage, which the book delves into. He clearly is prepared to face Chigurh and does not refuse to risk his life with the killer. He walks in and finds it empty, however. Bell’s inability to catch Chigurh is the last straw and he decides to quit for good, as seen in the scene with Bell’s Uncle Ellis. Bell is not so much afraid as he is unable to “take the measure” of the new kind of evil in his world. Bell has stated he didn’t want to “go out and meet something he doesn’t understand”