Anton’s name as well as appearance are meant to distinguish him as something unfamiliar, and foreign could be one way of describing it but I think this only begins to scratch the surface of the author’s intent, relating to how we perceive him. He’s also meant to blend in, as far as the novel is concerned, he dresses well, but in the fashion of a Texan, cowboy boots, jeans, button down shirt, tucked in….
He’s written so as to remain ambiguous, in regards to his nationality, ethnicity but at the same time not standing out amongst a crowd. Some people see him, and some don’t. Thst being said, the only time he garners someone’s attention is when he chooses too.
And remember, the army is not only made up of blonde hair and blue eyed boys named Jim, John and Joe, we had German Americans fighting in WWII just like we had Vietnamese Americans fighting in Vietnam, and so forth…
You could be right about Carson knowing Anton from his post military days, as a contract killer for higher but I’ve always had the feeling that their history started out in Vietnam together, just my opinion.
I believe the guy in the office was CIA, if I remember correctly from the novel, and yea, he was a total asshole, and it finally caught up to him. As to why he was such a jerk, I’m sure I don’t know, perhaps it was because he could be, just another power trippin’ egomaniac.
And you know what, maybe Anton always was CIA like you mentioned, and he ran missions in Vietnam with Carson when he was Special Forces, that would make since too!
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PittPanthers47 (237)
10 months ago
Very good post. And yes, 1/3 of the GIs who fought against the Germans in Europe were said to be of German-American descent. Good observation.
I saw that Cormac McCarthy just passed on. I would love to read a prequel to his work to get the back story on these guys. Moss likely a draftee who fought as a grunt in Nam or maybe someone who even volunteered for it.
What was Anton? He did not seem to have an accent. If I was pressed to guess maybe someone from Central or South America who had more of an anglo upbringing. But I have no clue on it. I can't see Anton being a soldier in the ranks. Was he capable of that sort of conformity? Kind of seemed like he would not be. Probably just a bagman and contract killer for mobsters and cartels.
Yeah, the total jack azz in the office was hard to make sense of. Was he a business manager type for the mob, cartels, drug runners? CIA? He must have had some clout to act like such a total beep. Certainly Anton did not much appreciate him too well as he had already picked the right tool for the job before bringing Carson into it. It cost him!
But I guess Cormac left a lot of this stuff as open-ended for us all to think and wonder about.
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DancingintheDark (1266)
10 months ago
RIP Cormac, imo, he is one of the greatest, modern American writers, a literary national treasure.
I think you hit the nail on the head as it relates to Anton, Central American or South America lineage but raised in America. You make a good point, I don’t see him in the regular Army, if he was it would have had to of been a special ops type group, but the more I think about it…., I think you’re right, he was probably doing contract killing type work for the mob, cartel or even the CIA. He was hired by that CIA asshat to track down Moss and the money…
The novel doesn’t go into too many details but if I remember correctly the CIA was doing business with the cartels.
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PittPanthers47 (237)
10 months ago
CIA Asshat! LMAO! That's how he should have been credited. The guy was a major d-word. I loved it how Carson mentioned to him how the building didn't have a 13th floor on his way out. The moron said that they would look into it. You have to love Carson's little jab there.
Any idea on who the two managers were that Anton shot at the site of the drug deal gone bad at night? The one had made a bit of a smart azz comment to Anton. Is that why he shot them? I kind of doubt that. Probably just business. They must have been ordered to have been eliminated since they bungled things up so badly with the deal gone bad.
I would love to read the book. Just don't seem to have the time to sit down and focus my attention on it. Hopefully soon.
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DancingintheDark (1266)
10 months ago
The two middlemen that Anton took out at the drug deal site were most likely contract killers or bagmen the CIA hired to do business which required one’s hands to get dirty, a buffer so to speak. Anton acted on his own in killing them, in the same way that he killed Carson, and the Mexicans, Anton felt he was the right and only tool needed for the job and anyone else that was brought in would just bugger it up. They were hired by the same guy who hired Carson, to help Anton find the bag of money and had nothing to do with whatever led to the deal going bad and the accompanying shootout.
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PittPanthers47 (237)
10 months ago
Interesting. I guess my question if Anton was working directly for the CIA asshat then who did he return the money to and how did he get paid?
Also, after killing everyone else that was dispatched to find the money along with him how did he expect to find future work? Wouldn't the CIA or mob or cartel label Anton a rouge who they could not work with and even want to liquidate him for his conduct?
It is very confusing. Did Cormac do a better job of outlining exactly who was involved as the higher-ups than the movie did? We certainly have the Mexicans on the one side and then we have the other side of the equation. Did Cormac say that it was indeed CIA? But certainly a relationship was woven back in the 1960s between the American mob and CIA. Likely it did still exist in 1980. Probably even today.
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DancingintheDark (1266)
10 months ago
So it’s been a minute since I read the novel, but I think most of what I said was either stated out right or heavily implied through shared character thought or perception.
If I remember correctly Anton was supposed to bring the money back to the CIA managerial fellow who hired him, or Milton from Office Space
; )
The fact that he killed him makes zero since to you, me and anyone else who isn’t psychotic and/or sociopathic. But it’s an excellent question none the less. It would be my guess that Anton did not keep the money for himself but returned it to the boss’ boss. The novel may touch on this…
Keeping the money would go against his principles and would make him just as hypocritical as anyone he executed or silently judged along his journey.
I don’t think he was concerned in the slightest about finding work. I also think that his behavior was becoming more and more brazen, in that what we see is a man on the edge of losing it completely. In my opinion we’re witnessing the end of a slow buildup, a man who has been disconnecting himself from societal norms for some time and what we see is the resulting buildup of someone who has been nurturing this philosophy, I also think that he got away with this sort of behavior in the past because it served the interest of the hiring parties, clearly this is not the case anymore.
As far as the different groups are concerned, we have the CIA orchestrating a drug deal or at the very least taking part in one, for reasons unknown, maybe it’s to control the market, or maybe it’s to make friends with the cartel, the reasons are up to the reader. There may have been a detail or two about this and I simply can not remember it. The novel gives you just enough info to allow your imagination to run with it and sort of draw your own conclusions, which I think is awesome.
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PittPanthers47 (237)
10 months ago
That is excellent analysis there! Especially about Anton and his behavior or at least his modus operandi. Yes, I can see that---in the past he was given a free pass because it suited the ends of the ones who employed him. But Good Lord he is way out of control here. Killing all the other errand boys is not likely to be received very well by those who sent them. And killing the asshat in the office who is a ranking member or whatever----downright insubordination. May not play out too well.
At the end of the film we see Anton suffer a horrific injury. Can he fix this one himself with only one good arm? He just killed Moss' widow so he can't very well get to the local hospital one would be inclined to think. His gun would be on his person or in the car. Not a good look. Walls were likely closing in on him. My guess is he was not for long after everything.
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