Luck and The Byzantine Sailor
The coin don’t have no say. It’s just you. — Carla Jean to Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men
People think they know what they want but they generally don’t. Sometimes if they’re lucky they’ll get it anyways. Me I was always lucky. My whole life. I wouldn’t be here otherwise. -Sheriff Ed Tom Bell
And you know what’s going to happen now. You should admit your situation. There would be more dignity in it. — Anton Chigurh
In one of the final scenes of No Country for Old Men, Anton Chigurh, the film’s Grim Reaper, awaits Carla Jean to fulfill a deathly promise. Chigurh made the promise to Carla Jean’s deceased husband, Llewellyn Moss. Inviting luck to decide the outcome, Chigurh offers Carla Jean a flip of a coin to save her life. Carla Jean rebuffs Chigurh’s offer and forces him to take full responsibility for what he does next.
Un Coup De Des Jamais N’abolira Le Hasard. One Toss of the Dice Will Never Abolish Chance.
I am obsessed with fortune. Luck. Chance. However you name it. For me it starts with winning an impossible lottery to come to America in 1995 (thanks George H.W.). Growing up in a very religious household, the defining question was: “why did God favor us to come to America? What were we supposed to do with this good fortune?”
The obsession, itself, is empowering and crippling. I’ve already won one of the greatest lotteries possible, so anything after that is gravy. And because I have been lucky in the past, I feel that I will continue to be lucky in the future. Nothing in life is free, and good fortune bears with it a responsibility. I believe the universe likes a balanced ledger. If you didn’t do anything to earn it, then you’d better be ready to pay up later. Will I ever be able to pay down my debts to balance fortune’s scorecard?
Llewellyn Moss was an everyman who needed a lucky break. He was a welder who served in ‘Nam. Twice. He lived in a trailer park with his wife who claimed expertise at conflict resolution through her job at Walmart. If there was anyone who needed a lucky break, it was Llewellyn Moss. He found it in the ruins of a drug deal gone awry in the sum of $2.4 million. He paid for this good fortune with his life. The money came with a price tag of being hunted to death.
Sheriff Ed Tom Bell was lucky to survive WWII as a 21-year old man. Bell believes he abandoned his fellow soldiers to death and was wrongly rewarded with a Bronze Star. Now nearing his 60s, Bell has worked his entire life to earn his survival and to rid himself of the shame he feels. Yet, as Sherriff Bell discovers: “age will flatten a man.”
Anton Chigurh is pure, senseless evil. We don’t understand the logic that drives his actions. We just know that when he arrives death and destruction will follow. We come to believe that probability, the logic of the coin flip, is the only logic that he respects. Every character succumbs to this trick except for Carla Jean who realizes the inevitability and responsibility of Chigurh.
Carla Jean who appears doltish throughout the film is the only character smart enough to see through Chigurh and face his brutal logic with clear eyes and a full heart.
How does one sail steady at sea through life’s ups and downs when so much of what happens is out of your control? That is the fundamental question I struggle with as I try to understand the role of luck in my life. I’ve been Llewellyn. I’ve been Sherriff Ed Tom. I hope to be like Carla Jean.
There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically. “May be,” the farmer replied.
The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it three other wild horses. “How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed. “May be,” replied the old man.
The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “May be,” answered the farmer.
The day after, military officials came to the village to draft young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out. “May be,” said the farmer.
Originally published at https://www.hectorbis.com on March 29, 2021.
