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Ed Tom Bell is the main protagonist of the 2005 neo-Western crime thriller novel No Country for Old Men and its 2007 film adaptation of the same name.
He is an aging sheriff of a small town in Texas. While attempting to acclimate himself to the changing viciousness of modern crime, (he gives a monologue on the subject; in both the book and the movie), he investigates the bloody scene of a drug deal gone bad in the desert.
He gets caught up in a chase for a suitcase full of money (2 million dollars) found by a hunter (Llywelyn Moss). Moss happens upon the money while hunting in the wake of the bloody shoot-out. With the addition of Anton Chigurh, Carson Wells, and the Mexican cartel in the hunt for Moss; Ed Tom begins to feel "over matched". He fails to save Moss despite his best efforts, and retires from law enforcement.
He is portrayed by Tommy Lee Jones.
Personality[]
Ed Tom Bell is a mostly stoic and serious yet emphateic individual Who wants to do what is right,despite this he sees his world as an increasingly wretched place, and from an early stage of the story, he's clearly aware this is not going to end well and he probably won't be able to do anything about it. Yet he goes forth anyway.
Story[]
The sheriff of Terrell County, Texas, and protagonist of the novel, Ed Tom Bell struggles to adapt to a changing world where senseless violence, greed, and corruption have become the norm. Bell is a man of faith who values ethics, morality, and honesty, but finds it increasingly difficult to effectively do his job in the face of the heinous violence he confronts in U.S. society. He depends on his wife of 31 years, Loretta, and his uncle Ellis for support as he comes to terms with the end of his career. He sometimes imagines speaking to his late daughter in his mind, idealizing her, and gaining more advise from her. Bell is a decorated WWII veteran, and struggles with guilt through the narrative as he tries reconcile his involvement in the war and the loss of men under his command. His desire to make right the actions from his past leads to his striving to protect the people of his community. He goes to great lengths to protect Llewellyn Moss and Carla Jean, and put Anton Chigurh behind bars, but by the end of the novel, he recognizes his powerlessness over the forces of evil in the world, and retires from his duty as sheriff.
Notes[]
- His father, grandfather, and uncle have all been sheriffs.
- The novel reveals Ed Tom Bell and his wife Loretta had a daughter, but she passed away very young. She would have been thirty during the events of the story.