Metaphor of the United States in No Country for Old Men

丁 妤/中南财经政法大学 外国语学院

Metaphor of the United States in No Country for Old Men

丁 妤/中南财经政法大学 外国语学院

Cormac McCarthy; No Country for Old Men; metaphor of the United States

Introduction

Cormac McCarthy and No Country for Old Men

Recent years, Cormac McCarthy, acknowledged as one of the most celebrated novelists in American contemporary literature, has attracted much attention from the critics domestically and internationally. In terms of No Country for Old Men, it receives many approving reviews in the light of various schools of critical theories. However, there is still adequate space for analysis. As for the metaphor in No Country for Old Men, the previous articles concentrate on the western surroundings and society in the movie, instead of relating the real condition of American society with the characters and plots, especially putting the movie in the post-911 terrorist attack period. Thus, this paper, based on the previous McCarthy studies, is going to reveal the metaphor of the United States in No Country for Old Men by analyzing the characters and plot narration,aiming to unearthing McCarthy’s intention of reflecting the United States in all aspects.

Chigurh: The Bully and the Absurd Principle

Abuse of violent power

In March 1999, in the name of humanitarian intervention, the US bypassed the United Nations, launched a 78 sky attack on the Southern League of sovereign states, and bombed the Chinese Embassy in Yugoslavia. All these force of violence the US used in diplomatic politics can be discovered from Chigurh’s behaviors.

At the beginning of the movie, after Chigurh escaped from the police office, he killed a stranger using his horrible weapon, an oxygen tank,just for getting the stranger’s car. With a mysterious smile on his face,Chigurh said politely “would you hold still, please” and then shot the innocent person. The similar scene appeared when Chigurh wants to get some medicines for self-cure. He bombed a car to create disturbance and finished a series of plundering without hesitation. Like the US, Chigurh never considers about some peaceful methods to get to his destination.Rather, he chose the violence to solve the problems in despite of the considerable unrelated people.

The Doctrine and Chaotic World

In international affairs, the United States ignores the authority of the United Nations to maximize the benefits as his please. He ignores the basic principles of international relations and implements unilateralism.In No Country for Old Men, Chigurh did not take the law into account,either. Chigurh followed his own principle of life, and decided others’lives by asking them to guess the coin. This absurd principle is obvious in the conversation between Chigurh and a gas station proprietor which ended with proprietor’s right call of the coin and he won everything,that is, his life. Chigurh use this gamely way to decide others’ lives, and unilaterally declared people’s death, just like the diplomatic style of the United States.

To some degree, this terrorist behavior of 911 attack comes as a blow to the US. Just like the terrorist act, the hegemonic actions of the United States should also be condemned. The similar scene was displayed at the end of the movie, when Chigurh drove on the road with the money;he was suddenly crashed by a car which violated the traffic regulations.Therefore, in such a chaotic society, there is no extreme evil but much eviler.

Conclusion

This thesis investigates the metaphor of the United States in No Country for Old Men. Chingurh, the cold-blooded killer in the movie,follows his own principles, abuse the violent power to achieve his goal.All his characteristics remind people of the bullying conducts of the US in some international affairs. Expressing acute distress at the failure of a vision and a sense of future, No Country for Old Men offers a mirror through which we can perceive McCarthy’s initially ambivalent attitude towards contemporary American society.

Works Cited：

[1]Li,Yingxue. “Conflicts between Traditional and Modern Societies in No Country for Old Men.” Thesis. Central China Normal U,2016.

[2]陈爱华：“暴力外衣下的人性探索——论科马克·麦卡锡小说中的宗教情怀”，《解放军外国语学院学报》，2013年第1期，第117-21+128页。

[3]江宁康：“当代小说的叙事美学与经典建构——论C •麦卡锡小说的审美特征及银幕再现”，《当代外国文学》, 2010年第2期，第115-24页。

《老无所依》是科马克·麦卡锡继边疆三部曲之后创作的又一部西部小说。据其改编的同名电影也受到了广泛的认可。大部分国内外对《老无所依》的小说以及电影的研究忽略了麦卡锡对美国形象的隐喻以及对911恐怖袭击之后人类命运的担忧。本论文将《老无所依》放到后911时代美国的社会和政治语境下，以影片中三个主要人物来反映作家对美国的隐喻。最终得出结论：《老无所依》反映了后911背景下麦卡锡对当代美国社会的矛盾态度。

科马克·麦卡锡; 老无所依;美国隐喻