This is one of the most powerful quotes about the sliding morals of everyone in the entire country. What kind of country is this if no one wants to raise their children, and yet they keep having them? That's what Bell thinks, anyway. It's as if everyone has just given up being responsible for anything.

This is another one of those strangely poignant moments that remind us that the people who die aren't just cannon fodder, like Star Trek red shirts. They have thoughts and feelings, histories and families. Why does McCarthy choose to illustrate this with Wells in particular here? Does he do this with other characters?

Perhaps there won't be any old men if young people never grow up. Or we're just headed toward an age of old people who act like children? Bell thinks about the good old days just enough to make us think he's thinking about the past with rose-colored glasses—and yet it's true that his world has become much more violent, and people have stopped taking responsibility for their actions.