In No Country for Old Men, a young man in the American South West happens upon a scene where many have died in what appears to be either a shootout or a massacre. Among the corpses he also finds a bag with a large sum of money. It could’ve been assumed by it’s location that this money would bring trouble but the young Llewelyn proceeds to take it anyway. Taking this money causes the hiring of a rather blood-thirsty bounty hunter(Anton) to track him down, retrieve the money, and execute him.
Though a large sum of money could be incredibly beneficial to Llewelyn and his wife who both live in a trailer, there is an obvious danger to the finding of this cash. To Llewelyn it is worth it. Most would not likely fight for this money given the possible consequences. However, according to Hume, “Human conduct is irregular and uncertain. The one, therefore, proceeds not from the other”(Hume, 516). This is to say that though people tend to think of humanity as a uniform entity with predictability as a prominent feature, human beings have a special quality that is free will. There is essentially no certainty to the actions a person may make, as is the case with both Anton and Llewelyn.
Both the antagonist and protagonist are arguably exceptional human beings. Their actions fall outside of the realm of uniformity. What each does is, in the case of the film, almost completely determined by what each thinks the other character would do. This is the necessity that drives each character. At a certain point there are multiple conditions that form necessity. According to Hume, “necessity makes an essential part of causation; and consequently liberty, by removing necessity, removes also causes, and is the very same thing with chance”(Hume, 517). The necessity of each to fight for money is created by multiple causes. Initially for Llewelyn it is financial gain and for Anton it is likely a mix of financial gain and blood lust. Eventually, however, the two must fight for their initial goals but also for survival as they’ve both ‘met their match,’ so to speak.
Both characters are essentially free and exceptional. In accordance with David Hume’s Of Liberty and Necessity, it can be asserted that neither characters freedom exists without cause and therefore necessity. It can’t be said that either one’s fate is pre-determined as their fight for survival seems so unpredictable. A cause must be present in order for either to be free.
