No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men

• Genre: Fiction; western/crime
• Originally Published: 2005
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile HL610L; grades 10-12; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 13 chapters; approximately 309 pages; approximately 7 hours, 29 minutes on audio
• Protagonist/Central Conflict: No Country for Old Men is a crime novel set in West Texas during the early 1980s. In the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong, Llewelyn Moss discovers a suitcase filled with two million dollars while hunting. Moss takes the money, setting in motion a violent pursuit by Anton Chigurh, a remorseless hitman, and Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, who is determined to bring both Moss and Chigurh to justice. The novel explores moral ambiguity, fate, and the relentless pursuit of money and power.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Violence; moral ambiguity; crime; brief mention of topics related to reproductive rights; occasional use of outdated and offensive terms in both novel and some paired texts

Cormac McCarthy, Author

• Bio: Born 1933; American author known for his contributions to literature, particularly in the genres of western and post-apocalyptic fiction; celebrated for his distinctive prose style and themes of morality; recognized for his philosophical depth and exploration of the human condition in stories often set against harsh and unforgiving landscapes
• Other Works: The Orchard Keeper (1965); Child of God (1973); Blood Meridian (1985); All the Pretty Horses (1992); The Crossing (1994); The Road (2006)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• Good Versus Evil
• Man’s Law Versus Moral Law

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will:

• Before reading, deepen understanding of key philosophical concepts to contextualize the text and increase understanding of the novel’s character, conflict, and themes.
• Through paired texts, analyze, compare, and discuss textual elements such as genre, trope, style, and the themes of Good Versus Evil and Man’s Law Versus Moral Law.
• Visually represent relationships between plot, character motives, and actions to support a claim as to whether the book is an argument for fate and determinism or choice and free will.
• Discuss and analyze textual elements such as symbolism, allusion, characterization, and structure and construct essay responses tying these elements to the novel’s themes.