by Narayan Saimbi
When most of us think of the undead, zombies mainly come to mind; The Walking Dead has made sure of that. Some of us might think of vampires, perhaps Dracula or maybe Edward Cullen, for the more cultured among us. However, I introduce to you Anton Chigurh; a man who defies death at every occurrence and an unstoppable juggernaut who will stop at nothing to get his way.
For those of you who haven’t heard of No Country for Old Men, the novel follows main character Llewyn Moss as he attempts to run away with $2.4 million after a botched drug deal. However, Moss is being hunted up and down the country by Anton Chigurh; a psychopathic killer whose sole mission is to retrieve that money back, no matter the cost.
Whilst main character Moss eventually perishes, Chigurh does not exactly get off light either. He’s involved in a major firefight where he has to patch up himself with materials from a local drugstore. The man is also hit by a car towards the end of the book, where he simply limps off afterwards. It would be incorrect to say Chigurh is left unscathed from these encounters, but for the mortal man, either of these events would be the end of the line. But not for Chigurh. Not for Chigurh at all.
This type of unworldly character is not atypical for McCarthy; this trait of “Unstoppable Evil” is also shown by Judge Holden in Blood Meridian. However, what differentiates the characters is the level of humanity between them.
Whilst Chigurh is a sociopathic murderer, he can still be hurt. As shown by the firefight, he is still flesh and blood. Judge Holden, however, could be the Devil himself. Whilst the actions Holden commits are deplorable, there does appear to be some suggestion to supernatural elements within his character. He is described as being immune to aging and having an incredibly pale complexion, alongside superhuman strength. In comparison with Holden, Chigurh’s physiology seems completely normal.
In my eyes, it is this level of increased humanity that makes Chigurh all the more chilling and terrifying for me. For most of us, the Devil is a whisper in the wind. However, it is not unlikely that a character like Chigurh exists out there in the real world; all flesh and blood but capable of the most deplorable actions. The fact that both of these two characters are comparable, despite Chigurh’s more overt grounding in reality, pips Holden to the post in terms of being the “Unstoppable Evil”.
The unnecessary murder of Clara Jean all but confirms Chigurh as deserving of this title. Clara Jean is Moss’s wife, who he sends to live in Texas whilst he’s on the run. Of course, Moss meets his untimely end and Chigurh retrieves the money. Case closed, right?
Chigurh makes his way over to Clara’s house, for the sole purpose of making her beg for life. He forces her to put her life on a coin flip, believing that it’s in the hands of fate whether she lives or dies. I should add that by this point, the mission is done. The money is returned. All is “good” in the world, if you can say that. Chigurh does not need to do this.
But he does it anyway. Clara calls the coin wrong and Chigurh murders her in cold blood. Even though he put her in this situation, even though he caused her to flip the coin for her life, Chigurh’s belief that fate is the cause of his action allows him to kill Clara without taking any sense of accountability for his actions in the slightest.
No Country for Old Men is one of those stories where despite the heroes’ best efforts, the villain always wins. And there is no better villain choice for that trope than Anton Chigurh.
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