Ed Tom Bell, the sheriff in No Country for Old Men, seems to believe that times have changed drastically since he first became a police officer. He reminisces about the old times where sheriffs didn’t even need to carry any guns and how criminals still seemed to be human. Over the course of his career as sheriff, the crimes he deals with have become increasingly awful, leading him to believe that there has been a change in how people act on a basic level and that he was built for a better and more peaceful time, hence the name No Country for Old Men. He believes that human nature has shifted across the decades to become more cruel and violent. In my opinion, the main purpose of the book is to allow the reader to come to their own conclusion on whether Ed Tom Bell is correct or not. Personally, I disagree with Ed Tom Bell; I believe that human nature has never changed and will never change. Human nature causes people to commit the most disgusting and terrible of crimes and perform the greatest acts of kindness imaginable. History repeats itself for a reason, and Ed Tom Bell should understand that after his long career in law enforcement.
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Great American Novels 