WHAT DOES ANTON CHIGUR REALLY REPRESENT?

andrewg · Sat Aug 16, 2008 1:05 am

[size=12]Anton is the embodiment of randomness or chance in human lives as outlined in the books by Nassim Nicholas Taleb: The Black Swan and Fooled By Randomness. He strikes such a deep chord of terror because he, like any random catastrophic event, takes away the veil of certainty and security in which we imagine we live our lives. This is particularly telling given that our entire history as humans has had a fundamental aim of increasing our security - to protect ourselves from unforeseen catastrophic events. Seen in this sense, he is more terrifying than a psychopathic serial killer; his terror is more fundamental than that.

He is trying to impress on Carson Wells his views on chance, in their motel room discussion. He derides Carson for his 'rule' (or certainty) on getting to his position and favourably contrasts that to his own, (which is his reliance on chance). The book is studded with the effect of random events, and most are primarily the event of meeting Anton, but also the initial finding of the drug money, Anton's car accident etc. In this sense Anton believes he has more integrity than Carson who he knows is motivated only by money. Anton says he is motivated by something else (which I think is his belief in the power of randomness or conversely his extreme antipathy to traditional certainties. Note the way he mocks the old man in the store, for his safe, mediocre life choices.) Anton gets his kicks by relying on chance (the coin toss) to decide the fate of human lives. He stays true to his ideal, by allowing those who call it correctly, to live. He leads 'a simple life'; not interested in Carson's motivations.

Anton knows he is not immune to the negative effects of chance - which helps to explain his calm reaction to the chance car accident he finds himself victim to later in the book.[/b]

Ophelia · Sat Aug 16, 2008 3:07 am

Thank you, Andrew, for this interesting post about randomness and Anton Chigurgh.
Would you like to tell us a little about yourself by writing an introduction in the "Introduce yourself" threads?

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