No Country for Old Men: Violence and The Dream

I have a few questions about Bell, violence, and the final dream sequence. Through his narration, we get the sense that violence has fundamentally changed throughout his life. Initially, the lawbreakers and violence that he knew were manageable and somewhat mild. A type of violence that he could govern and face. However, throughout his narration, we see that lawbreakers and violence have changed into something much more sinister and brutal, violence that he does not understand and a type of brutality that he cannot face. He realises that he cannot become the type of man needed to deal with such a world, which is why he quits being a sheriff. The world, and the violence that plagues it, is beyond his understanding, and Chigurh very much epitomises this human depravity that cannot be defeated.

With all this being said, is it this that inspires the dream of his father? The metaphorical layers of the dream seem to suggest a brutal world surrounded by coldness, the type of world that Bell has largely faced for the entire novel. While the father, who seems to be positioned as a hero with light (symbolizing warmth and guidance), is the manifestation of Bell's wish-fullfillment and desire for a father-like, heroic guidance in a world he does not understand anymore? Maybe a manifestation of someone who is good and who combat the evil that now plagues the world? And the fact that this symbol of optimism is just an illusion makes the ending so fucking sinister.