Ed Tom Bell

E410734

Ed Tom Bell is a weary, morally reflective sheriff in Cormac McCarthy’s novel and its film adaptation, embodying the struggle to uphold traditional justice amid escalating modern violence.

All labels observed (2)

Label Occurrences
Ed Tom Bell canonical 2
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (47)

Predicate Object
instanceOf fictional character
protagonist
sheriff
adaptationMedium cinema
literature
antagonisticCounterpart Anton Chigurh
appearsIn No Country for Old Men
surface form: film No Country for Old Men

novel No Country for Old Men
climacticScene visits motel room shortly after Anton Chigurh has left
conflict struggle to uphold traditional justice amid modern violence
creator Cormac McCarthy
dialogueStyle laconic
plainspoken
dialogueTheme critique of contemporary crime and social change
fictionalUniverse No Country for Old Men
filmAdaptationDirector Ethan Coen
Joel Coen
finalAction retires from law enforcement
gender male
internalConflict guilt over leaving his men in combat
investigates Llewelyn Moss’s discovery of drug money
jurisdiction Terrell County, Texas NERFINISHED
militaryBranch United States Army
militaryDecoration Bronze Star (later revealed as undeserved in his view)
moralCharacteristic law-abiding
reflective
traditionalist
narrativeRole first-person narrator in the novel’s closing monologues
first-person narrator in the novel’s opening monologues
nationality American
occupation sheriff
personalityTrait melancholic
thoughtful
weary
philosophicalView believes evil has grown beyond his understanding
portrayedBy Tommy Lee Jones
recurringMotif dreams about his father
religiousView culturally Christian but spiritually uncertain
setting West Texas
spouse Lorelai Bell
symbolizes old-fashioned lawman confronted with new forms of violence
thematicAssociation aging and obsolescence
decline of traditional values
limits of law enforcement
moral uncertainty
timePeriod early 1980s
warService World War II veteran

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Anton Chigurh antagonistOf Ed Tom Bell
Llewelyn Moss pursuedBy Ed Tom Bell
this entity surface form: Sheriff Ed Tom Bell