Role Of Determinism In Cormac Mccarthy's No Country For Old Men

Roughly 1% of Americans, or 3.4 million American citizens, suffer from a gambling addiction (Yale Medicine). Why do you need to be a member? Because the promise of money is irresistible. Llewelyn Moss in Cormac McCarthy’s No Country for Old Men is not a gambler, but he shares a gambler's desire for financial prosperity. Once he comes across an abundant amount of money, he becomes addicted and separates himself from any life and family he knew prior to his discovery. But unlike Moss, Anton Chigurh presents a set of principles that appear to transcend any financial value. He scarcely cares about any financial prize and acts on his own accord; in spite of that, his lack of an addiction to money comes with its own negative consequences. While Moss

Instead, he believes that he has simply carried out the laws of fate and that each person he kills, made a decision that ultimately led to their ending at the hands of Anton. However, that does not mean that determinism automatically leads to murder; so which came first, Chigurh’s capability of murder, or his determinist belief that the outcome of events was predetermined by external factors? To understand that, we must first comprehend Chigurh’s mindset in a more scientific, psychological way. According to doctors Nathaniel Anderson and Kent Kiehl, the general definition of a psychopath is someone who shows signs of a “lack of empathy, and poor behavioral controls, commonly resulting in persistent antisocial deviance and criminal behavior.” (Anderson and Kiehl). As per their general definition of psychopathy, Chigurh seems to fit those traits where he is apathetic and involves himself in criminal behavior. However, there are no indications to suggest that he is unable to control his behavior. However, analogous to other neuropsychiatric disorders, psychopathy is a spectrum, and one diagnosed patient could have different tendencies than

This outlook on the effects of late capitalism and determinism is applicable to 21st century generations, particularly when it comes to trends and social media influence. Nowadays, with the prevalence of social media and social media influencers, younger generations are easily manipulated by strangers behind a screen. The majority of the time, these influencers are extremely wealthy, typically because they come from wealthy families. When younger children consume their behavior, their sense of self-worth is redefined because they see these young adults living happily thanks to their ability to travel internationally, wear designer clothing, and get invited to exclusive events. That is not the standard expectation for life. Unfortunately, when children see this consistently online, they start to believe that a) money provides happiness, and b) their life isn’t as good because they don’t have that same level of wealth. Maybe Anton and Llewelyn are an ode to future readers that financial relationships lie on a spectrum, and too much or too little of one side can lead to negative