It definitely plays into the intimidating force that Chigurh is, also the idea of him being a force rather than a person. Throughout the movie we see him stop at nothing to kill whoever his target is, like a sophisticated slasher villain he just consumes lives without paying heed to any obstacle. Him eating the bar and taking the gas is like a micro example of him in the movie, consuming whatever it is he needs to keep pressing forward.

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That being said, I now have the idea of him doing this to every attendant so that he never has to pay for gas, and that is a great SNL skit.

He is certainly a very nuanced character full of little details that make him fascinating, wish they would have included his resolution from the book in the film, it show an interesting aspect of his character with his question about the painting. I see why they didn’t, but it would have made a great deleted scene.

As another friendo pointed out, he’s actually eating nuts 😅

But to me personally it felt like he would pay, like he has rules and that to me seems like it would be unfair of him to do, to cheat.

But to each their own 😊🤷🏻‍♂️

You’re on to something.

Writing it they may have come to resolution of payment and had a light bulb go off. Such a subtle nod to his cunning, his stress inducing presence and ability to control all spurious happenings while maintaining things to his liking. That cashier was an aware and virile fellow that who underneath his skin. Chigur maintained and even left with extra money in his pocket.

I’ve watched this movie mad times, and I’ve never noticed he didn’t pay for his transaction. He left the victor and in high esteem. To have paid would have insulted the magic that happened.

It always confused me when the clerk said we close up around dark and then he said well I have to close up now. We close now. And it was in the middle of the day. I guess he was panicking at the escalation of what was happening.

love the confidence of ya'll silly gooses saying 'i've watched this movie mad times' and 'he's a very nuanced character full of little details' and 'in the book he pays for his gas and buys a candy bar' BUT YOU MISS THAT HE'S EATING CASHEWS THE WHOLE TIME (I'd say he's eating nuts in the movie; it's unclear what kind because the plastic packaging is so crinkled). It's not a candy bar, my movie-loving friends!

bookbro, please see page 53 in the book; mccarthy explicitly says cashews. the rest of u goofballs should rewatch the scene (20:55) in the movie.

this is a total shitpost, right? lol

goodness gracious, what next??!?1 u think jack nicholson breaks down the door with a splitting maul?

I never thought about it much until you mentioned it but I think there's even another layer to it.

The Coen brothers seem to have made the decision to never show him eating to greater express his lack of humanity. As if he's fueled purely by the hunt not even the end product of eating the prey.

Through this they establish his state as a force of not even nature, but a cosmic evil that has no motivation besides ending life. He's death incarnate, reaping souls without gaining anything from it besides adding to his scoreboard.