No Country for Old Men Chapter I Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote 21
Then he slung the rifle over his shoulder and set out. (1.3.10)
There's a lot of meaning packed into Cormac McCarthy's short, simple sentences. This example shows us Llewelyn's determination. In fact, you could use this sentence to describe Llewelyn's actions in almost any of chapters of the book. Except the ones where he's dead.
Quote 22
He ran cold water of his wrists until they stopped bleeding and he tore strips from a handtowel with his teeth and wrapped his wrists and went back into the office. (1.2.5)
Ouch. This is one of our first clues that Chigurh will stop at nothing to get what he wants. He doesn't even take a breath to say "ouch" when his wrists are cut open and bleeding.
Quote 23
Do not, he said, get your dumb ass shot out here. Do not do that. (1.3.38)
Everybody needs a pep talk. Some of those pep talks have life-or-death consequences. This is one of them.
Quote 24
Nothing wounded goes uphill, he said. It just doesn't happen. (1.3.42)
This line is a lie. Llewelyn is facing an uphill battle from the moment Chigurh gets on his trail, but that doesn't prompt him to give up. He keeps going, even when he is wounded. Okay, to be sure, he doesn't make it in the end; maybe the sentiment should be nothing wounded goes uphill without dying.
Quote 25
By the time he dragged himself shivering out of the river he was the better part of a mile from where he'd gone in. His socks were gone and he set out a jog barefoot toward the standing cane. (1.3.173)
You don't get much more determined than you are if you're walking through the desert without shoes or socks. No shoes, no socks, no problem? All righty.
Quote 26
Langtry Texas was thirty miles as the crow flies. Maybe less. Ten hours. Twelve. His feet were already hurting. His leg hurt. His chest. His arm. The river dropped away behind him. He hadnt even taken a drink. (1.3.182)
We've seriously just met Llewelyn, and already, he's been shot, he's sum through a river, and he's hiked through the desert with no socks on. You gotta give the guy some respect. Chigurh may be an unbeatable foe, but Llewelyn sure puts up a good fight. Was the money worth it?
Quote 27
I sent one boy to the gaschamber at Huntsville. One and only one. My arrest and testimony. (1.1.1)
Okay, the book starts off well enough. A young man commits a horrible crime. He gets punished. Sure, we wish he hadn't killed his girlfriend, but that's what the justice system is for. A place for everyone, and every criminal in that place. All the danger seems contained, right? Yeah, just you wait.
Quote 28
He got out his handkerchief and walked back and wiped clean everything he'd touched. (1.3.22)
This moment shows us that Llewelyn knows he is committing a crime by taking the drug money. Or is he just afraid the drug runners will fingerprint him? This may be Llewelyn's big fatal mistake; there's really no going back after this.
Quote 29
If you knew there was somebody out here afoot that had two million dollars of your money, at what point would you quit lookin for em?
That's right. There aint no such a point. (1.3.142-1.3.143)
Llewelyn knows about the danger involved when he takes the money. That proves how persistent he is. Even though he knows he will always be on the run—you know, for his whole life—he still takes the dough. He is confident. Maybe over-confident.