Ed Tom Bell is the town sheriff in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men. Sheriff Bell has two conflicts to resolve. First, he must apprehend the dangerous hit-man Anton Chigurh. Next, he must find Llewellyn Moss and ensure his safety. Sherriff Bell fails to do both of his tasks; Chigurh evades capture, resulting in the death of Moss’s wife as well as Moss himself. A clear examination of the words and actions of Sherriff Bell provides insight into his shortcomings. Sherriff Bell is a nostalgic man who is unable to confront evil and is riddled with guilt.
The opening paragraph describes Sheriff Bell and his encounter with a man who senselessly killed a fourteen-year old girl. When Bell talks with the imprisoned killer and observes that the man has absolutely no remorse, he is stunned. This experience convinces Bell that “there is a true and living prophet of destruction and I don’t want to confront him” (4). He believes that exposing oneself to such evil forces a man to “put his soul at hazard” (4). These two quotes set up a clear conflict for the rest of the story. Because Bell is unwilling to put himself in front of evil, he is unable to fully devote himself to confronting the psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh. …show more content…
Such an example is his actions in WWII. Bell heroically tried saving his platoon during a battle with the Germans, but retreated when he realized that his men were doomed. Had he stayed, he would have died. Although over forty years have passed since the incident, his guilt is still evident in his conversation with his uncle. After Bell tells his uncle the story, he says, “some part of me of me has never quit wishin I could go back” (278). What Bell fails to realize in his life is that many of the factors involved in the deaths of both his platoon and the Moss’s were out of his