Reading One (Pages 1-79): Characters

The role of the book’s primary protagonist is filled by Llewelyn Moss, a middle-aged hunter who leads a quiet and mundane life in a small, dusty Texas town. Often a man of few words, he generally chooses to spend his time in the company of his own thoughts rather than his wife Carla Jean who he nonetheless seeks to protect at all costs. However, in spite of his limited educational background, Moss is shown to be quick thinking and knowledgeable, allowing him to escape any trouble that he happens to encounter in his line of work. Consequently, after discovering a suitcase full of money leftover from what appears to be a drug deal gone awry, Moss chooses to embrace his adventurous and risk-taking half in attempting to avoid death at the hands of the people to which the money belongs.

Moss’ wife Carla Jean on the other hand has a personality that strongly contrasts that of her husband. After all, whereas Moss prefers to remain emotionally distant and avoid conversation, Carla Jean instead proves to be talkative and clingy as she demonstrates by often questioning Moss about his daily whereabouts. Yet even though she has the sense to see through Moss’ lies, she still accepts the answers to her questions in order to remain passive and avoid any chance of conflict or marital strife.

Much of Chigurh’s character is ambiguous to readers of the book as a result of his mysterious personal background. For instance, while it eventually becomes evident that he is indirectly associated with the failed drug deal in the desert that involved the suitcase full of money, his association with the groups involved in this transaction remains to be seen. Even more importantly though, his peculiar diction and mannerisms including the repeated use of the word “friendo” prevent the reader from inferring where he is from. This same problem is further compounded by his insistence on working alone as supported by his decision to kill two of his partners at the scene of the drug deal, meaning that no other characters with knowledge of either his future plans or personal past exist in the book. Therefore, much of the reader’s sense of Chigurh’s character is ironically derived from his actions related to his attempts to hide and eliminate knowledge of his existence.

Sheriff Bell serves as the head of the meager police force in the small Texas town where Moss and Carla Jean live. Consequently, he quickly becomes involved in the investigation surrounding the drug deal in the desert, with his tracking skills being used to find the site of the deal after it is first discovered by Moss. However, despite demonstrating his professionality by agreeing to take the case he still makes his disdain for modern police work clear when he reminisces about his early days as a police officer. For instance, during his observation of the site of the drug deal with Deputy Wendell he remarks that he preferred being a police officer when his work was focused on directly protecting and resolving the issues of the citizens he serves rather than fighting off Mexican drug dealers. Thus, Sheriff Bell’s actions reveal his talent for police work as well as his sense of humanity.