The Music of CHance
Paul Auster's Music of Chance is a story about risks, money, and one man's lack of direction in his life. In the beginning of the story, the protagonist Jim Nashe, an ex-fireman from Boston, spends a good amount of time just driving around the country using the remaining amounts of his money his father had left him in his will. He couldn't stand staying for more than a couple of days at most in one spot. He was always on the move and as a result, he lost precious time that he could have spent with his daughter in Minnesota. It wasn't until one day while driving on a lone road; he spots a disheveled young man by the name Pozzi. The two form a partnership for an upcoming poker game. This all takes place in the first chapter of Auster's book, and it serves an important role by allowing the reader to enter Nashe's life. It becomes understood that he is not sure what he wants to do with himself and with his life. He drives all day and part of the night, but at the end of his travel!ing, he truly has gone nowhere. The movie does not include these crucial events. Instead, Nashe only mentions that he drove a lot in his past, but he does not touch on important things like his daughter and his run in with Fiona. The deletion and addition
Jim Nashe's money was the only thing that was allowing him to do whatever he wants. No one could stop him from driving as it allows him to be his own boss. The only thing that could prevent him from 'driving' his own life was when his money runs out, and it was sure to happen sooner or later. t that a father seeks revenge on the two men that killed his son. It doesn't seem possible or understandable how this story could end any other way. of certain events in the movie, creates a whole new theme from that of the book version, making it a somewhat less emotional and suspenseful. The movie distorts the ending in The Music of Chance. It has similar scenes of the three men in the bar having a few drinks, but from there the director makes a drastic change. When Nashe drives back and sees the headlights ahead of him, he continues to drive faster, accelerating to over eighty miles an hour. However, when the lights are just upon them, he quickly swerves and misses the oncoming car, driving into a ditch and killing only Calvin and Floyd. Nashe simply gets out of his car starts and walking down the road. The next and final scene is similar to the first scene in the movie, but with different characters. Instead of Nashe driving the car and Pozzi being on the side of the road, it is a stranger driving the car, and a disheveled Nashe walking by himself. In away, the movie forms a circle, a true 360 from the very beginning of the film. This ending is too cheesy for it to fit the rest of the story. So now what is Nashe going to do? Is the stranger driving the car ! The first chapter in the book is such a crucial element to the story because it illustrates Nashe's search his own life. He just inherits two hundred thousand dollars, and he grows confused as to where his life is going, that he practically just wastes it all away. He did manage to think of Juliette and set up a bank account in her name, but other than that he spends it on food, hotels, and on gas for his new Saab. The audience learns about his love fling with Fiona and also witnesses him ruin it as he flees away, being too afraid of settling down. Auster writes: As big of a difference that the beginning of the book and the beginning of the film made, is of equal proportion in the endings of the two. The ending to the book was more practical and almost seems to "fit" the story more so than the movie ending. It was nearly fate that Nashe killed himself along with Calvin and Floyd, and there was a sense of justice by him doing so. He has been
Some common words found in the essay are:
Instead Nashe, Flower Stone, Stone's Flower's, Jim Nashe, Calvin's Floyd's, Money Nashe, Jim Nashe's, Calvin Floyd, Music Chance, City World, calvin floyd, driving car, own life, nashe's life, stranger driving car, thousand dollars, stranger driving, driving country, life practically, pozzi road, literature words,
Approximate Word count = 1696
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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