No Country for Old Men Chapter VII Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
(Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote 1
Finally told me, said: I dont like the way this country is headed. I want my granddaughter to be able to have an abortion. And I said well mam […] not only will she be able to have an abortion, she'll be able to have you put to sleep. (7.1.2)
We're not sure if Bell shares Cormac McCarthy's political views or not, but he seems to be applying a slippery-slope logical fallacy here between abortion and non-consensual assisted suicide. Bell tries to take a moral high ground here, but he comes across ethically confused.
Quote 2
Even when I say anything about how the world is goin to hell in a handbasket people will just sort of smile and tell me I'm gettin old. (7.1.1)
Bell is sometimes written off as a crotchety old man. Is that reputation deserved, or does he have a point?
Quote 3
The driver watched him in the mirror. No drogas, he said. (7.2.64)
Paul the taxi driver is our favorite minor character. He only has a handful of lines, but they're all good ones. Here, we see he's fine with weapons, and he's fine with assisting Llewelyn in some illegal activity, but he wants nothing to do with drugs. He knows how devastating they can be.
Quote 4
Moss walked out onto the prairie behind the motel with one of the motel pillows under his arm and he wrapped the pillow about the muzzle of the gun and fired off three rounds and then stood there in the cold sunlight watching the feathers drift across the gray chaparral, thinking about his life. (7.2.114)
Once again, Llewelyn thinks about his life. He keeps making choices that get him deeper and deeper into trouble. Was there one fatal choice that changed everything forever? Or were there a series of choices? Both?
Quote 5
I read in the papers here a while back some teachers come across a survey. […] Had this questionnaire about what was the problems with teachin in the schools. […] And the biggest problems they could name was things like talkin in class and runnin in the hallways. Chewin gum. Copyin homework. Things of that nature. […] Forty years later. Well, here come the answers back. Rape, arson, murder. Drugs. Suicide. (7.1.1)
You might think that Sheriff Bell is just a dusty old fogey, but from these lines, it really does seem like the world is getting worse and worse, and people are committing more heinous acts every day. Do you think that's true? The 1980s were actually pretty bad, but were they that bad?
Quote 6
You got the right attitude, Paul. I wont get you in trouble. I just dont want you to leave me somewheres that I dont want to be left. (7.2.53)
We have to wonder just how many criminals get into Paul's taxi. Is there something about taxi drivers we don't know about?
Quote 7
Dont go over the speed limit, he said. You get us stopped by the cops and you and me both will be in a s***pot full of trouble. (7.2.126)
Now Llewelyn is concerned about the law, huh? If he had been worried about getting caught in the first place, he wouldn't have got himself into this situation. Did he not care, or did he know that Bell was too incompetent to ever catch him?
Quote 8
If you spent three days with me, he said, I could have you holdin up gas stations. Be no trick at all. (7.2.139)
Perhaps being a criminal is contagious. If Llewelyn and the hitchhiker hadn't been killed, could you picture them turning into a modern day Bonnie and Clyde? Well, maybe not, but we do have to wonder how easy it is to get sucked into the whole crime thing.