Spinoff Thread: Help me understand the end of No Country for Old Men (spoilers)

If he let her live why did he check his boot soles for blood when he walked out of the house?

It's one of my favorite movies. That said, I didn't like the ending. Not that the ending was bad in any way, just that it seemed like the film was just cut during the story. This has very little to no effect on my enjoyment of the movie.

All the senseless killing made Sheriff Ed Tom realize he was living in no country for old men.

1. The Mexicans killed Llewellyn and got the cash
2. Chigurh killed Llewellyn's wife and gets away after the wreck
3. With Llewellyn dead Sheriff Bell's interest/jurisdiction is gone so he goes back home

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A lot of violence and loss of life, centered around a ridiculous and unrealistic murder weapon and a B horror movie level bad guy/monster, full of sound and fury

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No Country reminds me a lot of Blood Simple, they have a lot of the same feel. The B movie or 70's type story I believe was intentional.

I like both movies.

Chigurh retrieved the money from the motel duct (and, in the book, returned it to his employer).

Chigurh killed Carla Jean. In the book, she guessed wrong on the coin toss.

If I remember the book right, Chigurh was in the adjacent room when Ed Tom Bell returned to the motel. He was not behind the door.

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You find out that the travails of one little man don't mean squat and that everything is irrelevant.

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This.

Question about the car accident in which Anton gets badly hurt. Chigurh always presented himself as some otherworldly spirit, something not quite human, like the hand of fate. In an unconventional/psychopathic way, he had an enormous ego and viewed himself as greater than other men.

On that basis, I always interpreted the car accident to basically reaffirm what you said as it applies to Chigurgh. For all his seeming invincibility and superhuman nature, he too is mortal and vulnerable to being snuffed out in a second by some freak accident. For all his blustering, Chigurh too is ultimately insignificant. Am I wrong in interpreting this?

It's the sheriff saying he is outmatched, that he is old and everything has passed him up. Hence the title.

Anton kills Carla Jean

The crash symbolized that no one is invincible and everything can change in a split second

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It's the sheriff saying he is outmatched, that he is old and everything has passed him up. Hence the title.

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It's not the first time he has quit though. See the WWII back story in the book (it really needed to be in the movie). He thought he had changed and become a better man but he realizes he hasn't actually changed at all.

Another part was that he saw himself as a failure as sheriff. From the book after he decided to quit:

"Loretta did say one thing. She said somethin to the effect that it wasnt my fault and I said it was. And I had thought about that too. I told her that if you got a bad enough dog in your yard people will stay out of it. And they didnt."

He realized he wasn't a bad enough dog to deal with the likes of Chigurh.

But probably the most relevant passage from the book is from the very beginnning:

“Somewhere out there is a true and living prophet of destruction and I dont want to confront him. I know he's real. I have seen his work. I walked in front of those eyes once. I wont do it again. I wont push my chips forward and stand up and go out to meet him. It aint just bein older. I wish that it was. I cant say that it's even what you are willin to do. Because I always knew that you had to be willin to die to even do this job. That was always true. Not to sound glorious about it or nothin but you do. If you aint they'll know it. They'll see it in a heartbeat. I think it is more like what you are willin to become. And I think a man would have to put his soul at hazard. And I wont do that.”