No Country for Old Men Context

The novel No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy is set in 1980s Texas around the US/Mexico border. During this time period, there was huge increase in drug activity in this area along the border. This novel is takes place after President Richard Nixon declared the “War on drugs” in 1971. America started to crack down on drug use, and they warned people of the harmful effects. In 1981 when President Ronald Reagan took office, he expanded the drug war. On of the most notorious drug traffickers during the 80s was Pablo Escobar. The violence that surrounded his drug cartel and made headlines in the newspapers is what drew people’s attention to him. Many people believe that Pablo Escobar was one of McCarthy’s real-world examples for his characters and inspiration behind the plot of the novel. Another was Pablo Acosta, who was a Mexican drug smuggler in the 80s who also controlled crime along the border. Many of the real-life drug cartels’ actions are modeled through the character of Chigurh. He goes to extreme lengths to find Moss and recover the money in the briefcase. He kills or attempts to kill everyone he meets in the novel, and he hardly feels any regret or remorse. For example, he flips a coin to determine whether or not he should kill the person he is talking to. This highlights the randomness and the risk that is involved in this line of business. Most of the characters and events of the novel reflect real life people or situations from the 1980s.