# No Country for Old Men: What was Chigurh even going to DO with the money? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 4, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897 "2008-04-04T05:35:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/1 "2008-04-04T05:35:07Z")
(Spoiler) OK, the big tension in _No Country For Old Men_ comes from the war between Anton Chigurh, Llewellyn Moss, the Mexican gangsters, and Carson Wells and his employers, over the big bag of money. But what on earth is Chigurh even going to do with the money? Why does he want it so badly? Apparently he’s originally hired to get the money back by some guys in an office, but later on in the movie he _kills_ those guys. This is obviously a hypothetical question. But I thought it was just kind of funny to think about. Anton Chigurh seems like a guy who likes only one thing: killing people. He is never shown indulging in any kind of luxury during the course of the entire movie. Are we to assume he wants to use the satchel of money to buy five thousand new pairs of red cowboy boots? Or a giant collection of exotic weapons? Is he going to retire to Florida or something? Is he just using the quest for the money as an excuse to kill lots of people? ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/2 "2008-04-04T05:36:30Z")
Maybe he wants to buy nice home for his wife and daughter. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/3 "2008-04-04T06:08:56Z")
The sort of completely detached life he leads would cost mucho dinero. No permanent home, eat out every meal, hotel every night, constant travel. Cash is extra good because its not traceable. ---
**Author:** ![Talon\_Karrde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/4 "2008-04-04T06:17:41Z")
A lot of it is probably also for the principle of the matter. Principles seem to mean a lot to him. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/5 "2008-04-04T06:43:55Z")
[QUOTE=Princhester] The sort of completely detached life he leads would cost mucho dinero. No permanent home, eat out every meal, hotel every night, constant travel. Cash is extra good because its not traceable. [/QUOTE] Good point. I wonder what his favorite food was. Did he go to the same franchise restaurant in every little town he passed through, or did he make a deliberate effort to sample the local cuisine and patronize small, family-owned businesses? His interaction with the gas station owner would suggest that he actually dislikes small family-owned businesses for some reason. He probably preferred to stop at fast food joints. If I had to guess, Arby’s. Did they have Arby’s back then? He seemed like he was in very good shape, so he probably ate few carbohydrates, and did pushups in his hotel room. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/6 "2008-04-04T07:11:46Z")
In his twisted mind, killing his employer doesn’t get him off the hook for carrying out the job - just as killing Llewelyn didn’t let him off the hook of his promise to kill his wife. The man did have his principles. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/7 "2008-04-04T12:21:42Z")
In the book, he gives the money to another bigtime drug dealer so he can replace the relationship he had with the dealer he killed. He wants allies and doesn’t seem too interested in money. I think in his mind, taking it would have been dishonorable. He considers himself an agent of fate and doesn’t seem to be in the murdering business for material gain. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/8 "2008-04-04T13:29:40Z")
Get a haircut? ---
**Author:** ![Shark\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f04885/32.png) [@Shark\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/9 "2008-04-04T15:18:58Z")
Buy a _flamethrower_ with a silencer? ---
**Author:** ![shy\_guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a6a055/32.png) [@shy\_guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shy_guy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/10 "2008-04-04T15:22:46Z")
My thoughts were the same as **Sam Stone** ’s. I thought that the money was irrelevant to him; he kept going after it because he said he was going to, and he doesn’t go back on his word. I like the idea that his lifestyle simply costs a lot, but he’d probably be making a lot of money as a professional assassin/bounty hunter in the first place, right? ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/11 "2008-04-04T15:23:13Z")
The rational answer: [Macguffin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macguffin) 😉 The in-movie answer: what **Sam** said. First, he’s hired to do a job. Later, the guy who hired him does something stupid that makes the job harder, so Chigurh kills him. But he still has the job. I can think of three motivations, one subconscious, one conscious, and one abstract, all of which are probably contributing factors. Respectively: (a) he’s irritated at the people who are standing in his way (though as a superficially rational person who is not in touch with his psychosis, he probably wouldn’t admit his irritation, as emotional motivation is weak); (b) he wants to prove that he won’t be beaten by these amateurs; and (c) for the principle of the thing, so as not to abandon an obligation now that it’s been taken on board. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/12 "2008-04-04T17:44:41Z")
He wanted to buy a pony! ---
**Author:** ![Euthanasiast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Euthanasiast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euthanasiast)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-country-for-old-men-what-was-chigurh-even-going-to-do-with-the-money/443897/13 "2008-04-04T23:11:11Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] He wanted to buy a pony! [/QUOTE] I’ve read the book several times and watched the movie a handful. This makes the most sense to me.