Chance and the Matter of Possibilities in Paul Auster’s Fiction

Human existence is an essential aspect of Paul Auster’s fiction in so far as he follows certain existentialistworldviews regarding the infinite possibilities of leading one’s life on earth. Since Auster believes in a world groundedon randomness and contingency, many of his characters are scapegoats to this system rather than being victims of fate.During what we observe as random events in the course of their life stories, Auster’s protagonists go through a series ofunrelated events which ultimately turn out to be meaningful as a whole. Even the open-endedness of his novels reflectsthe fact that there are still events to happen henceforward. Auster’s strategy in depicting life as such not only is areflection of what happens in the real world but also an essentially existentialist portrayal of what makes us humanbeings. In the latter sense, Auster’s vision can be traced back to Heideggerian and Sartrean views about contingencyand possibilities in life. This study has tried to highlight this aspect of Auster’s fiction by peering into the essence ofcontingency, chance, and possibilities in some of his novels since the beginning of his literary career.

Keywords:

Paul Auster , chance , contingency , existentialism , possibilities