The Anomaly

The Anomaly forces its characters to grapple with questions about their place in the universe. The idea that everything is a simulation leads some people to adopt the nihilistic belief that nothing actually matters; this sense of meaninglessness causes a rise in suicide, including in the case of Victor March. Le Tellier more broadly treats the circumstances of each character’s life as the sum total of arbitrary events—just a matter of probability (maybe dictated by a computer program). This is okay with some, like Lucie’s son, Louis, who throws dice to determine which mother he will live with each day, but for others the idea that everything is a matter of chance threatens the ideas—like free will and responsibility to others—that give meaning to their lives. Those who previously found meaning in religious texts now find themselves cast into an unbearable condition of doubt (210).

Though the existential uncertainty prompted by the mystery of flight 006 leads to a rise in suicide, conspiratorial thinking, and fringe religious fanaticism, most of Le Tellier’s characters move quickly past these existential dilemmas. As the philosopher Philomedius argues, from the perspective of the individual, living in a simulation is no different from living in the real world.