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Chapters
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Contents
Chapters
Chapters at a glance
No Country for Old Men has 24 chapters.
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Chapters24 items
Chapter I
The novel opens with two alternating voices. Sheriff Bell reflects on his career and the changing nature of crime in his county, convinced that the violence he now faces is someth…
Chapter II
Chigurh is introduced in full. He kills a deputy who arrested him using handcuffs as a weapon, then steals a car by killing the driver with a captive bolt pistol.
Chapter III
Moss moves from motel to motel, trying to stay ahead of Chigurh. He discovers a transponder hidden in the money case, which explains how he keeps being found.
Chapter IV
Moss recovers from his wounds in a Mexican hospital after being helped by strangers. He meets a young woman at a pool who is also on the run from trouble, and they talk.
Chapter V
Moss continues moving, trying to keep Carla Jean safe by keeping her away from him. He calls her and tells her not to come back to Texas, but she is already being watched.
Chapter VI
Moss is on the run, moving through motels and border towns while Chigurh closes in. Bell continues his investigation, arriving at scenes just after the violence has passed.
Chapter VII
Moss is wounded after a shootout at a motel and ends up in a Mexican hospital. His wife Carla Jean is contacted by both Bell and a man working for the drug cartel, which pulls her…
Chapter VIII
Bell reflects on his career and his sense that the world has changed in ways he cannot adapt to. Moss, recovering in Mexico, is contacted by Carson Wells, a man hired by the carte…
Chapter IX
Moss is killed offscreen between chapters. The reader finds out through Bell, who arrives at yet another motel to find Moss dead.
Chapter X
Bell retires. He visits the scene of an old massacre from the frontier era, connecting present violence to the past.
Chapter XI
Moss is dead. The news reaches Bell and Carla Jean separately, and both have to absorb what it means.
Chapter XII
Chigurh visits Carla Jean. He told Moss he would come for her if Moss didn't return the money, and he keeps that promise.
Chapter XIII
Bell goes to visit his uncle Ellis, a retired lawman who was shot and paralyzed years ago. The conversation between them is the philosophical center of the novel.
Chapter XIV
Bell retires. He tells his wife he is done being sheriff.
Chapter XV
The novel ends with Bell recounting two dreams about his father to his wife. In the first dream, his father loses some money Bell gave him.
Chapter XVI
Moss is dead. The novel confirms his killing off-page, and the reader learns about it mostly through aftermath.
Chapter XVII
Bell's interior monologue deepens. He visits his uncle Ellis, a retired lawman who was himself badly wounded in the line of duty years ago.
Chapter XVIII
Chigurh is in a car accident after leaving Carla Jean's house. Two teenagers witness it.
Chapter XIX
Bell formally retires from the sheriff's department. He tells his deputy he is done and gives a brief, quiet explanation.
Chapter XX
The novel ends with Bell recounting two dreams to his wife. In the first, he loses some money his father gave him.
Chapter XXI
Bell has retired and is living quietly with his wife Loretta. He recounts two dreams to her, both involving his father, and the novel ends on these images.
Chapter XXII
Uncertain. The novel as published by McCarthy contains material organized into sections that do not always carry numbered chapter headings in a standard way.
Chapter XXIII
Uncertain. This section likely continues either Bell's reflective monologue or a late scene involving Chigurh or the aftermath of Moss's death.
Chapter XXIV
Uncertain. If this represents the final section of the novel, it likely contains Bell's last monologue and the two dreams that close the book, or it is a brief coda.
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