Slaughterhouse Five and Fate

Billy Pilgrim has virtually no control in his life, and therefore very little free will. He cannot decide when or where he will go next, just as a traditional idea of fate suggests. This gives Billy a sense that, because everything is beyond his control, he should not try at it. What is to happen will happen regardless of what he does. His view of death is an interesting one, though. The Tralfamadorians believe that life is comprised of individual moments. Just because we are dead in one moment doesn't mean we are dead in all of the other moments. We are still very alive in the rest of the moments that make up our lives. But this view is very detached an unemotional. It makes it seem like we should hardly care what happens to us because it would happen regardless of what we think of it. That is where I think that Billy is wrong about people. People are passionate about what they do in their lives, so they must believe that their actions have at least some impact on what happens in their lives. But is that just an illusion? Should we all be more like Billy and not care when bad things happen because our reaction does not affect anything? I do not believe this is the case. Billy may take a hands off approach to his life, but that seems almost inhuman. It seems to be human nature to care about what happens to us. If we couldn't control a thing, people would probably stop trying or caring altogether by now. Because they have not stopped acting emotionally and otherwise in their lives, people at least think they have some control over their lives. Billy's view seems almost pessimistic; he makes most things in life feel inconsequential. However, sometimes the little things that we appear to have no control over seem to mean the most. If we didn't react and learn from mistakes and shortcomings, what stops everything from just happening over and over again?

Beloved's Fate

In the book Beloved by Toni Morrison the idea of fate is discussed more in the sense of what the main character is able to control. Sethe allows Beloved to stay because she thinks it gives her an ability to change her past, or repent the mistakes she made. Really Beloved represents more of a parasite of the past that she hasn't dealt with, so it controls her present and future. Because she gets too caught up in her own past to live a healthy future, Sethe's entire family suffers. She allows a world she cannot control become her downfall. If Sethe would've accepted her past then she could have lived a life void of guilt.

One could also argue that Sethe interfered with fate when she killed Beloved as a child. Her motherly instincts told her that death was a better fate than slavery, but then would it have been fate that she was meant to have Beloved in the first place? And was it fate that Beloved was the one child to die? If Sethe attempted to mess up Beloved's fate then it would make sense that Beloved would come back to haunt her. Maybe her life in slavery wouldn't have been as bad as Sethe thought, so she took away her child's life for no reason. Either way, Sethe's actions haunted her for years until she finally overcame her guilt with the help of Denver, only after it almost completely consumed her. Sethe's fate may have been to kill Beloved, but because she could not forgive herself for her actions it affected her life for many years after. We should accept and learn from things that happen to us and that we do instead of allowing them to linger and affect us in a negative way. Life happens, but that doesn't mean that it's over just because we do one thing wrong.

The Stranger and his Fate

Throughout The Stranger, fate is an underlying issue. When his morals and character are called into question, Meursault stays true to his values. It's as if he was not meant to act in certain ways. Despite what others believe he should do at his mother's funeral, he remains emotionless. But maybe instead of having the inherent  actions, he appears to have more free will. Where other people may have acted in certain ways, Meusault  chooses his own path. When Marie asks him if he loves her, he responds in a more negative way, whereas many men would've lied to be "nicer". But instead of following what is normal, he decides to do what is best for him.

After the murder, Meursault talks about his crime and talks to a preacher about his sins. When he refuses to believe in the same God, the preacher gets upset. So if Meursault doesn't believe in the traditional form of religion, then he could not believe that a higher being is deciding what will happen to him. It does make life meaningless somewhat though. It's hard to trust in what happens if life is all random.

But when Meursault talks about Maman's death, he says that it's not right for anyone to cry at his mother's death. It was her time and she was probably happy. He cannot know it was "her time" if there is not at least a little bit of fate in life. Some higher being determined when Maman's life came to an end, otherwise death could not be "her time". If it was all random, Meursault could have cried at her funeral because she may not have been ready. But if fate determines all that happens to us, how can we have emotion towards any of it if everything was meant to happen no matter what?

Invisible Man: Are We Invisible by fate?

In the novel Invisible Man, the narrator is in a constant struggle to determine who he is. He strives for the acceptance and clearance of others, but in doing so he constantly changes himself as well. In terms of this novel, I wonder if the narrator tried to determine his own fate, by following others and often doing what he thought he ought to, he lost his sense of self entirely. I believe it was his fate that he had to take Mr. Norton to the Golden Day. It was his fate that he got kicked out of school and sent to New York, and it was his fate that he got rejected from job after job once he got there. But then, he started to change. When he joined the brotherhood, that changed his course in life for awhile. Almost immediately, he changed. He adopted the ideas that others had as his own. At this point, the narrator has lost a lot of who he is. He is also used again and again by others for personal gain. But he is ultimately to blame for that because he allows it to happen.

I think that his fate comes back to the words his grandfather said to him on his deathbed. He was meant to hear that. He needed to know that it was his "job" to be an spy in the enemy's territory. He needed to be told to say yes in order to undermine them. Though it takes the narrator pretty much the entire novel to understand what his grandfather meant, he had to screw up a few time in order to truly grasp the man's meaning. So maybe all of his supposed "detours" where he "loses" his own ideas and thoughts by being used are really how he finds himself. Without his misstep with Mr. Norton, he never would've ended up in New York. If he had never been censored during a speech, how would he know what his own ideas are? If he didn't spend his time trying to be seen, how could he possibly know the truth that he is in fact invisible?

The true measure of this change is in the end of the book when the narrator meets Mr. Norton again. In the beginning, he never would've dared to talk to a white man the way he did. But in the end he has the nerve to ask him if he is "ashamed" of himself. His constant struggles to be something different actually lead him to himself. So while his actions and life lead him down into the ground, he actually became enlightened as a result. Did he make the choice to do some of the things? In a way, yes. But all of these events proved to be far more important the he originally guessed. Little did he know, but, as fate would have it, even the narrator's biggest screw-ups determined his view on himself and life as a whole.

King Lear: Tragedy because of Fate?

In his play King Lear, Shakespeare tackles many problems inherit in human nature. But I wonder if the terrible and unnatural acts are predetermined by a higher being? One of the ideas that was discussed almost daily in class was the idea that certain people and events were either natural or unnatural. A person is either naturally good or naturally bad, right? Likewise, the actions of a certain character are either unnatural or natural. But perhaps they were meant to do certain things because of their fate? For example, Edmund believed that he was entitled to the rights he should have had he not been born a bastard. So was the betrayal of his family going against his nature, or was he merely following the guidelines his fate had set forth? I believe it is a bit of both. Edmund believed he was meant to be above his brother, so he acted in a way to make that possible. In the end, all Edmund really did was help his brother, Edgar, gain more power still. It's almost as if Edmund's fate was used to make Edgar's possible. Edgar was meant to have power, he is just and honest, and Edmund's actions are really what made that possible. 

Furthermore, Reagan and Goneril acted unnaturally when they disowned their own father and fought each other over a man. Both women were not just or virtuous leaders, so it makes sense that their fate caused them to fight, and ultimately ruin, each other. But they couldn't possibly have had that fate determined when they were born, so is it possible for one's fate to change based on their actions, or are all of their actions based on their fate? It seems like one's fate may be adjusted at some point. King Lear was almost punished for the unfair treatment of all of his daughters. He favored Cordelia, so his other daughters were less inclined to put up with him in his madness. So maybe because King Lear sent away the only daughter who cared about him, he was punished. 

Though fate is less openly discussed in this play, it definitely plays into the characters' lives. One could reason that Cordelia was sent away to teach her family, and the rest of society, a lesson. When people go against what is natural in their lives they will be punished. What is natural is fate. When people try to stray away from their fate, and any natural order, their fate keeps them in line. Though Edmund wanted to be powerful, he was not meant to be; his fate kept him in line when he strayed from the path. By creating unnatural situations, banning Cordelia and betraying family, circumstances worsen until the perpetrators regain focus and begin to follow the right path again. Unfortunately, this pretty much ends with death in this play. So the play reiterates the idea that  fate cannot be tricked or changed. It is comforting, though, because if we follow the natural path we are meant to, fate will be pleasant and everything will end up right in the end.

Oedipus Rex and Fate

While Oedipus Rex is a text rich in dramatic irony,  the entire plot basically revolves around fate and a predetermined life. In one way or another, Oedipus would kill his father and marry his mother. Even though it's not always the idea people wish to accept, I believe that life is predetermined, at least in some respects. Maybe Oedipus's circumstances are the most extreme examples of fate, but the idea is present nonetheless. Unfortunately for Oedipus, the gods decided to make a bit of an example out of him. They aimed to prove their superiority over mortals. Maybe Oedipus's predetermined life was used to reassert the gods and teach everyone else a lesson. In the end, the gods must have had a reason for laying out such a terrible fate for Oedipus.

Another thing to consider is the use of a predetermined path to illuminate dramatic irony. However, the turn of events follow the fate more than they lead the dramatic irony. I believe the irony is used as a result of the lesson or moral to heighten the point of fate. The characters may not have known what was going on, but the audience could clearly see the consequences of trying to control a prophesy or a fate. It can really start to bother people when they ponder how little freedom they may have. Maybe the moral of the story is that the gods know what they are doing, and following the path they have laid out will be best in the end. Problems would only arise if and when a mortal thinks they have more power than they really do. Ultimately, this era of civilization blamed, or even owed, most events in their lives to the gods. A story like this may give the people even more incentive to follow the predetermined path they have been given.

The validity of fate is even more evident when people try to trick fate. It's as if there is unbalance when something does not go as it should. It reminds me of the Final Destination movies; when people cheat death they will soon suffer an even worse end. In this story when Iokaste and Laios try to change their fate, their lives end worse than if they have just not conceived a child in the first place. To me, is seems like the gods get angry when the mortals try to change what was set out for them, which makes sense. The gods believe one thing should happen, and if it doesn't they will try other, sometimes worse, things in order to get what they had originally wanted.

Oedipus leaves a bit of a sour view of what I had originally thought fate to look like in our lives. In the end, things will always turn out the way they are supposed to, but this story leaves me wondering. How do we know that the end will actually be okay for us?

Am I really the master of my fate?

"When you get there, it will feel right." I can't count the amount of times somebody has given me this advice. As if when my nose breaks the barrier between the outside world and a college campus I will know that's where I am meant to be. It's almost as though the mere atmosphere of a college meshes with my own bioligy so well that, inside, I will imediatley know.

I have never been good at decisions. Even the thought of choosing dinner most nights causes concern! Like most AP and Honors students, I have been thinking about college for the bulk of the last year and a half. The list has fluxuated at the rate of waves in the ocean: it is ever changing. Colleges come and go, and none from the original list have survived the scrutiny. How could I leave such a daunting decision up to just a "feeling", a mere tingling in my heart, a voice that urges "this is it, pick here"? I cannot! Unless. Maybe there is a bit of a life plan, a map persay. Maybe my life has partially predetermined. Maybe somebody else has chosen a path I should follow. And that tug in my heart is really a shove towards that path. But then, how am I to know that is the right path to follow?

I have had my heart broken time and time again. I’m not talking about the conventional jerk lying and ruining my trust in men, but instead the sport that has been more alive in my life than most people I know. For as long as I can remember I have been a swimmer. I have lived a life filled with chlorine, goggle tans, and summers filled with less than leisurely days spent by the pool. I hav given myself to the sport. I put my heart and soul into hard work. I have let dreams fill my head. I have made plans for our future. Then, all at once, my world comes crumbling down. Red lights form into numbers, not the numbers I want.

But looking back, it's those times that have really shaped my life. Every time life tears me down, I want to fight back even harder. It's because of the negatives that I can achieve positives in my life. When it comes down to it, I think that life happens for a reason. We are shot down and broken, but we are not destroyed. There is always a way to patch up what is broken and heal to be even stronger than we started. Is the entire path predetermined? I'm not sure. But I do know that without every event in my life, I would not be the person I am today. So how can I trust a "feeling" when it comes to the biggest decision in my short life? It's simple. If I make the right choice I will  fulfill my college experience as I was meant to--filled with more early mornings than late nights. If I make the wrong choice, I know that I will find some way to undo the wrong. A knowing in my heart will guide me the right way. Really all that I can do is trust that someone somewhere out there sees my life in a far greater sense than I ever could. I see the right now, the seventeen year old life. They see the end, a life at eighty or ninety fully lived. In this life, all I can do is trust that path to know what I need. Life really is too short, why not live a little better if I know everything will end up okay in the end?