Bell’s Morals: At the end of the first soliloquy of the novel Sheriff Bell states that he will not “put his soul at hazard.” Earlier he had stated that he was willing to sacrifice his life on duty. I would assume that putting one’s soul at hazard most nearly means committing some sort of grievous sin, for example, killing someone. This action of manslaughter seems to be an essential aspect of working in law enforcement and Bell even recognizes it as such. One could argue that willingness to kill, “what you are willing to become,” makes an effective sheriff, and it seems that Bell agrees, however, he is still unwilling to sacrifice his morals for this cause.
Foreshadowing and character establishing in the soliloquies: Each soliloquy teaches us more about Bell such as his morals, his experiences while keeping the peace, and the differences between law enforcement in Bell’s past and the complex criminal circumstances he currently faces. Related to the last point, in the second soliloquy he juxtaposes breaking up minor crimes by engaging in fist fights in his early sheriff days with being shot at by vehicle-occupying Mexican drug cartel members in his more recent years. Obviously, Bell longs for his early days when he could smack ruffians into submission. The part one soliloquy also foreshadows Anton Chigurh’s impending rampage with the line “But he wasn’t nothin compared to what was comin down the pike.”
Great American Novels 