“Other” Anxiety behind Anti-hero Theme: Dual Narrative Dynamics in No Country for Old Men

Abstract

No Country for Old Men is a western novel, written by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The story begins with a hunting game among Bell, Moss and Chigurh at the US-Mexico border. Starting from the perspective of the scholar Shen Dan’s “dual narrative dynamics”, this thesis compares the relationship between “overt progression” and “covert progression” from the aspects of character images, thematic significance and aesthetic values, and finally draws the following conclusion: The fact that Bell disguises American citizens as victims of absurd violence in the overt plot and Bell’s alienated and fearful attitude towards the border “other” in the covert progression, which have completely opposite thematic significance, thus guiding “authorial audiences” to make different ethical judgments and aesthetic choices to the text.