Free Write- No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men has some reoccuring symbols that are imperative to it's meaning. Guns would be the most obvious and effective of the symbols. Guns are seemingly a symbol for power. Only the men in the novel posses them. There are also a wide variery of various guns. Why do the women never gain control of guns? Why do the men change weapons so frequently? What would the story be like without guns? Animals are used a couple of times as a symbol. At the start of the novel there is a large black dog, which in superstitions is regarded as an omen of bad luck or death. The dog clearly forshadows events to come. Horses are used to portray emotion. When the horses are at the drug scene they are uneasy and jumpy as to convey the emotions of the men. But because they are men in the modern western they are clearly not allowed to show emotion. Why is it that McCarthy does not allow for almost any emotion? Even the women characters are somber and accepting of whatever their male "superiors" tell them. How would an influx of emotion affect the flow or meaning of the novel?