No Country for Old Men
Megan Malpass
Womack
English 1304
January 31, 2014
No Country For Old Men Response
I completely disagree with Keats and his idea that the movie, No Country for Old Men, ends happily as Sheriff Bell tells the story of his dream to his wife. Keats calls it a story of Bell’s “self forgiveness” as he realizes that the goals he had were way too great for him to handle. The viewers can obviously tell that Sheriff Bell looks completely defeated and extremely old in the last scene of the movie. His wife antagonizes his daily plans as a retired man but eventually lets him tell his sad stories of the dreams he had that night. As Bell tells her of his dreams, he becomes well aware that he will never meet the heroic stature of his Dad and he will probably never find his way to Heaven to meet his Dad because he is certain that God will never make His way into Tom Bell’s life. Tom Bell has two dreams that he shares with his wife. In the first dream, he tells us that he does not remember it very clearly but he says that his dad is at least 20 years younger than him in the dream and it is weird to him that he is a lot older than his own dad. Bell may have lived a longer life than his father, but not necessarily a good and well-lived life. The second dream is a lot more detailed as Bell tells his wife that he was riding horseback when all of the sudden he sees his father on another horse with campfire equipment attached. Bell watches as his father rides past him well into the sunset and imagines the fire that his father would be making out in the cold mountains and he can’t wait to join him. The dream seems hopeful until Bell tells his wife that he woke up before he could ever join his father. In the dream, the fire represents heaven. This is Bell’s chance to meet his father in Heaven but he is clearly shaken when he wakes up before he could reach the fire. Instead he wakes up to find himself as a retired, old man living an unexciting life without faith and hope for
Womack
English 1304
January 31, 2014
No Country For Old Men Response
I completely disagree with Keats and his idea that the movie, No Country for Old Men, ends happily as Sheriff Bell tells the story of his dream to his wife. Keats calls it a story of Bell’s “self forgiveness” as he realizes that the goals he had were way too great for him to handle. The viewers can obviously tell that Sheriff Bell looks completely defeated and extremely old in the last scene of the movie. His wife antagonizes his daily plans as a retired man but eventually lets him tell his sad stories of the dreams he had that night. As Bell tells her of his dreams, he becomes well aware that he will never meet the heroic stature of his Dad and he will probably never find his way to Heaven to meet his Dad because he is certain that God will never make His way into Tom Bell’s life. Tom Bell has two dreams that he shares with his wife. In the first dream, he tells us that he does not remember it very clearly but he says that his dad is at least 20 years younger than him in the dream and it is weird to him that he is a lot older than his own dad. Bell may have lived a longer life than his father, but not necessarily a good and well-lived life. The second dream is a lot more detailed as Bell tells his wife that he was riding horseback when all of the sudden he sees his father on another horse with campfire equipment attached. Bell watches as his father rides past him well into the sunset and imagines the fire that his father would be making out in the cold mountains and he can’t wait to join him. The dream seems hopeful until Bell tells his wife that he woke up before he could ever join his father. In the dream, the fire represents heaven. This is Bell’s chance to meet his father in Heaven but he is clearly shaken when he wakes up before he could reach the fire. Instead he wakes up to find himself as a retired, old man living an unexciting life without faith and hope for