“The Scarlet Ibis”: Person vs Fate The definition of fate is ‘The supposed force, principle, or power that predetermines events.’ Fate is a fairly complicated idea. Could something really determine how our lives unfold? Perhaps there’s a higher power?
A group of boys crash landed on an island, no adults just them. Sounds like fun right? That's what they thought, they discovered many hardships. They elect a leader, Ralph who with the help of piggy, the more realistic and intelligent one of the group. Piggy makes the rules and is always the one to come up with a logical and realistic plan.
Destinys and Decisions “You are always only one decision away from a totally different life”(Unknown). Your destiny can be such a fragile thing, you slide between the path of success and the path of failure daily with the decisions you make. Often when you make a bad decision you are give a second chance. And these decisions and chances all lead up to your destiny.
At some point in our life, there would be a time to ask ourselves: what is the true meaning of destiny, the word always associated with fate? Can it be controlled by humans or changed? Is it something that is decided already by the heavenly forces or is it a work-in-progress? The definition of this word is subjected to changed from person to person due to the differences in culture, religion, personality, character, and such. However, regardless of how a person defines the word, they will experience a chain of events leading to the discovery of their own fate.
Fate is something we cannot control for it is a higher power than any of us. William Shakespeare wrote “Romeo and Juliet” which is a play about two Italian families who hate each other but whose children have fallen in love. Romeo and Juliet’s tragedy was due to fate, all the events that weren't by choice so the tragedy was made to happen. It was set in stone and no one could do anything about it.
What is destiny? Destiny is events that will happen necessarily to a particular person or thing in the future. It is a predetermined, inevitable, course of events. We do not choose our own destiny. Anything can happen and therefore can’t choose the outcome of our actions which leads to our destiny.
I personally believe that we have control of how are destiny will work for us. We can do the right things in life, or do the not so good things that sabotage the way our destiny is suppose to work out for us. In The Sports Gene, by David Epstein, Donald Thomas was led to his destiny by a bet from a current track member who did high jump. He then found out that he was naturally good at high jump, because of his giant achilles tendon. But in Macbeth, by Shakespeare, Macbeth sabotaged the way he was going to become king of Scotland.
Fate versus free will. This has been a statement questioned since humans could think. Fate is the idea that everything is meant to happen for a reason, commonly connected to religion and the fact that God has a plan for everyone and he leads us in the direction that he decides. On the other hand, free will is the idea that you as a human being has the power to determine his or her destiny with every single decision they choose to make. This argument prominently came up previously in the course as we read the novel Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, presenting the main character Billy Pilgrim in a situation that made him debate whether his life was determined by fate or free will.
The article, ‘Does Jazz Put the Sin in Syncopation,’ was originally an article written by Anne Faulkner in 1921. Faulkner claims that jazz is linked to ‘un-corseted bodies and sloppy workmen.’ Jazz music doesn’t have the structure of classical music and as a result society has lost its structure. While the excerpt doesn’t support Faulkner’s views, it does acknowledge that one of the article’s messages is an important one-- music challenges social values. There were mass political and social shifts in the roaring twenties.
It is the hand that evokes love, and creates a twin soul for every person in the world”(95). Fate is a story written of the entire universe, and controls everything within. Free will does not change what has already been written by fate as it is all controlled by one. The universe could be made of a single being, but the choices made by people change outcomes of what is supposedly fated. Fate and free will together result into the universe, but only together does it explain all
Fate is defined as the development of events that are not in an individual’s
Failures and successes in life have led many people to believe that destiny plays a role in one's future life outcome. Some say destiny, the “hidden power believed to control what will happen in the future”, is unchangeable; fate has already decided how one will live their life. Although in some cases this may be true, one is able to change their destiny by the deeds and actions they commit during their lifetime. Many people disregard the idea that actions play a large role in forming one's future.
According to Fate vs. Freewill, “This group includes many religious people.” This reveals that most people that believe in fate also believe in God or a higher power. Through believing in God, people contemplate that he already has their future set in stone. For example, “If you believe in a God then you likely believe that that God is responsible for the creation of the universe and all of the happenings within it” (Live, Love, Simple). This statement demonstrates how the belief of God creates the idea of fate.
Was it fate or free will that killed Romeo and Juliet? In the prologue of this play, Shakespeare refers to Romeo and Juliet as “A pair of star-cross'd lovers.” Star crossed lovers are people whose love is destined to end in tragedy. Free will is when people are able to make their own decisions and have consequences based off their decisions instead of predetermined consequences. Fate was definitely the reason for Romeo and Juliet’s tragic deaths because of the unexplainable coincidences, uncharacterized choices, and conscious decisions that all lead to the same inescapable outcome.
Fate, by definition, is the universal principle by which the order of things is seemingly prescribed. (Webster) Essentially, fate is events that are inevitable that we have no power to change. It is debatable that fate exists among everyone; however, humans are subject to making their own choices- free will. No matter what choices people make, they do not change our fate.
