![]() ![]() ![]() Chigurh's coin toss becomes a motif because he offers it as an option to people who he's about to ceremoniously kill (as opposed to the many people who he kills without hesitation). ![]() It becomes a marker of their fate, a token of proof that their time on earth is not yet up. In a blood-soaked chase over 2.4 million dollars, it's quite ironic that the most deadly decider of fate is only worth 25 cents but as Chigurh points out to the proprietor of the filling station and to Carla Jean, if the coin falls in one's favor, it becomes more than just a coin. In a book about unrelenting evil and the temptation of riches, it seems appropriate that the symbol of fate and destiny also be a piece of money. ![]() For Llewelyn, it leads to more trouble than it could ever have been worth. However, as Llewelyn realizes and as some of the characters know all along, money is "a false God," (182) as Carla Jean says. Money symbolizes an escape from obligation and stress. He assumes that people with money don't have to talk to old ladies on the phone about their cats being stuck up in trees. Sheriff Bell also dreams of money and what wealth affords those who possess it. When Llewelyn finds the money, he thinks of it as "his whole life sitting there in front of him" (18). The case full of money symbolizes a wild and unattainable hope for a better life. ![]()
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