Symbolism In Film

No Country for Old Men, set in rural Texas follows three story lines. Llewelyn Moss, Anton Chigurh and Sheriff Ed Tom Bell are the central characters of the three story lines. The film follows Llewelyn and Anton through their ‘cat and mouse’ chase, with Sheriff Ed Tom following close by. Throughout the film Anton is made to appear immortal and viewed as an angel of death, whom shows no empathy for others and decides the fate of those he encounters. The themes of fate and destiny are depicted through the techniques of symbolism and characterisation. Numerous scenes and props seen throughout the film symbolise these themes, for example Anton’s coin, a device witnessed to be used to decide one’s fate. Characterisation is also a tool utilised for

the depiction of the themes fate and destiny, Anton’s clothing is an example of this, the colour of his clothing, black associated with evil, power, death and mystery, reflecting on the actions of the antagonist. The themes of fate and destiny in many ways shape the characters and the setting of the film, through the techniques of symbolism and characterisation these two themes are introduced and incorporated in the film.
Themes of fate and destiny are depicted throughout the film through the technique of symbolism.

An example of symbolism being utilised for the depiction of the themes, Anton’s coin, a device witnessed by the audience to decide ones fate. Anton believes that destiny will decide your fate, an example of this is at the petrol station “And it’s either heads or tails…Call it…You stand to win everything. Call it” Anton’s views about destiny and fate are all put in perspective for the audience to see. Another example of symbolism are the camera shots of stretches of roads, portraying a characters choice and fate for example, scenes of long bending roads represent the unknown and long straight roads represent a known destination. Specific roads relate to a specific character, long straight roads tend to relate to Sheriff Ed Tom as he knows what he is in for and through his past experiences has a sense of what is going to happen. Long straight roads also relate to Anton as he is seen throughout the film finding Llewellyn even after the tracker is destroyed, the long straight roads also demonstrate how confident the character is about what to do. Bending roads, where the audience cannot see the location at which the road ends relate to Llewellyn, who in most cases is seen going where the road takes him in hopes of shaking Anton off his tail, so to speak, the bending roads also relate to his lack of experience in such scenarios. The film depicts the themes of fate and destiny through symbolism throughout the film, multiple scenes and props symbolise the main themes of the

film.
Characterisation is also a method utilised in the film, No Country for Old Men, to highlight the themes of fate and destiny. Anton is characterised as an angel of death, also known as the grim reaper, he decides the fate of those encountered during the ‘hunt’ for Llewellyn. Anton is clothed in black from head to toe, black associated with evil, power, death and mystery, reflecting on the actions of the antagonist. The chief antagonist is portrayed to feel no pain and have no empathy, forcing the impression of immortality about Chigurh. Chigurh’s dark and evil characteristics are expressed through numerous characters in the film. Carson Wells is asked how dangerous Anton is, he responds “Compared to what? The bubonic plague?” Carla Jean states “I Knew you was crazy when I saw you sitting there.” The actions of Anton also demonstrate his lack of empathy and pain, the extent of Anton’s empathy is demonstrated with Carla Jean where he offers her a coin toss to give her a chance to live or in other words, let fate decide. His lack of pain is demonstrated when he performs surgery on himself and does not show a single sign of distress or pain. In-fact many of Chigurh’s reactions concerning his actions are as if he has previous experience. An example of Chigurh’s ruthless nature and lack of empathy is demonstrated in the scene where Anton is caught and strangles a cop to death. Characterisation throughout the film helps carry on the theme of fate and destiny, for example, Anton who is perceived as a grim reaper in the way that he is characterized, the grim reaper seen as the decider of fate.
The techniques symbolism and characterisation are utilised throughout the film to depict the themes of fate and destiny. The technique of symbolism is scatter throughout the film and is demonstrated through multiple scenes and props which help depict the themes destiny and fate. Characterisation is also a tool used throughout the film to highlight these themes, through clothing, characteristics and actions Anton is made to seem like an angel of death, the decider of fate. The techniques of symbolism and characterisation utilised by Coen brothers help depict the themes of fate and destiny.