Comparison and Contrast of No Country for Old Men and Stick

Comparison and Contrast of No Country For Old Men and Stick

In the story No Country For Old Men, written by Cormac McCarthy, a main character named Moss finds himself in a heated situation that can cost him his life. While hunting, he runs into what was a shoot-out and finds a pick-up truck filled with cocaine. Not too far away from the scene he finds a satchel containing $2.4 million dollars of drug money and takes it. Chigurh, the antagonist, is a mass killer who is chasing Moss for the money. He shows no emotion and will kill anyone that interrupts his plan. In Elmore Leonard's book, Stick, Stick joins his friend Rainy to make $5,000 by delivering a package for a man named Chucky. Stick knows that Chucky and the people who are affiliated with him are people who commit illegal business acts for profit. Though, Stick still follows through with the operation with Rainy. Moke, one of Chucky's men, is told to go to the deal with Stick and Rainy. Moke is an assassin and is told to kill Stick after the deal is made. Both Moss and Stick are smart enough to know what kind of situations they are putting themselves in. They know that they are stepping into dangerous boundaries, where people are serious about they're money and will kill for it or will kill just because they can. Not only are Moss and Stick comparable, but Moke and Chigurh are as well. Moke and Chigurh are both killers but they have different intentions. No Country For Old Men and Stick have a similar theme and characters that are both similar and different.

Selfish decisions made in order to gain money can lead to life threatening consequences. This is a theme that is present in both No Country For Old Men and Stick. In No Country For Old Men, Moss takes the satchel of money knowing that the person who it belongs to will come looking for him. Moss's decision to take the money leads to him getting stuck in a situation that he cannot escape. Soon, his life revolves around the money that he took. Moss fights to stay alive as a mass killer named Chigurh who wants the money is constantly chasing him. When Moss saw the satchel of money, all he saw was a window of opportunity to be rich and he doesn't think about what he could get himself into. He got the money easily, but he has to suffer by playing a dangerous game.

In Stick, Stick finds himself in a situation based on money that has his life on the line. Stick's friend Rainy gets him to ride along in a delivery to make $5,000. Rainy does work for a man named Chucky, who makes money off of drugs and investments. Chucky has Moke tag along with Stick and Rainy during the delivery and is told to kill Rainy. Though, Stick makes a bad impression on Chucky. Because of this, Moke is told to kill Stick instead of Rainy. Even though Stick was just released from a 7-year jail sentence, he still decides to join Rainy to gain some cash through a bad way. Stick's bad attitude and choice to join a dirty operation leads to