Mortality and Ethics Quotes in No Country for Old Men

How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)

Quote #7

By the time he got up he knew that he was probably going to have to kill somebody. He just didn't know who it was. (3.3.276)

Llewelyn knows he will have to do things he doesn't want to do in order to survive. Do you think Chigurh ever started on the same road, slowly doing things that were more and more immoral until he became who he is? Or is his kind of evil something deeper?

Quote #8

Loretta told me that she had heard on the radio about some percentage of the children in this country bein raised by their grandparents. I forget what it was. Pretty high. […] When the next generation come along and they dont want to raise their children neither then who is goin to do it? Their own parents will be the only grandparents around and they wouldnt even raise them. (6.1.2)

This is one of the most powerful quotes about the sliding morals of everyone in the entire country. What kind of country is this if no one wants to raise their children, and yet they keep having them? That's what Bell thinks, anyway. It's as if everyone has just given up being responsible for anything.

Quote #9

Finally told me, said: I dont like the way this country is headed. I want my granddaughter to be able to have an abortion. And I said well mam […] not only will she be able to have an abortion, she'll be able to have you put to sleep. (7.1.2)

We're not sure if Bell shares Cormac McCarthy's political views or not, but he seems to be applying a slippery-slope logical fallacy here between abortion and non-consensual assisted suicide. Bell tries to take a moral high ground here, but he comes across ethically confused.