Jim Nashe - A former Boston firefighter who has recently inherited money and left his wife. He is on a road trip across America when he meets Jack Pozzi.

Jack Pozzi - A professional gambler who joins Nashe on his road trip. He loses all their money in a high-stakes poker game.

Flower and Stone (Bill Flower and Willy Stone) - Two eccentric and wealthy men who win Nashe and Pozzi's money in the poker game. They force the two men to build a wall on their property to work off their debt as indentured servants.

Calvin Murks - An old man who oversees Nashe and Pozzi's forced labor of building the wall for Flower and Stone.

Jim Nashe, a former fireman, quits his job and embarks on a year-long road trip across America after receiving an inheritance from his estranged father. While on the road, he picks up Jack Pozzi, a professional gambler down on his luck. Pozzi convinces Nashe to stake him $10,000 to play a high-stakes poker game against two eccentric millionaires, Flower and Stone.
Nashe and Pozzi lose disastrously to Flower and Stone, who then force them into indentured servitude building a large stone wall on their estate to work off the debt. Even after completing the wall, the millionaires keep adding charges, trapping Nashe and Pozzi indefinitely. Pozzi eventually tries to escape but is severely beaten into a coma .
Convinced Pozzi is dead, Nashe becomes obsessed with revenge against their overseer Murks. After paying off his debt, Nashe deliberately crashes Murks' car with Murks and his son-in-law inside, killing them both in a final act of defiance against the cruelty of chance.

Existentialism and the Absurd The novel delves into existentialist ideas about the meaninglessness and absurdity of human existence. The protagonists Nashe and Pozzi find themselves in an increasingly bizarre situation due to a chance encounter, highlighting the randomness and lack of control in life.

Freedom vs. Captivity A central conflict arises from Nashe and Pozzi's voluntary surrender of freedom to the eccentric millionaires who employ them to build a wall. Their physical captivity mirrors their existential imprisonment by the forces of chance that govern their lives.

The Role of Chance The very title refers to the pivotal role that random chance plays in driving the plot and the fates of the characters. A single fateful poker game sets in motion a chain of absurd events that entrap Nashe and Pozzi.

Obsession and Revenge Nashe becomes obsessively driven to seek revenge against one of the millionaires, Murks, after the presumed death of his friend Pozzi. This obsession consumes and defines Nashe's existence.

Critique of American Materialism The novel offers a critique of American materialism and greed through the eccentric behavior and wealth of the millionaire characters who treat Nashe and Pozzi as disposable labor.

Auster's distinctive minimalist prose style and exploration of existential themes like identity, chance, and the human condition are hallmarks of this acclaimed postmodern novel.