Intro (DT): The concept of fate and free will is a major accruing theme in classic pieces of literature. Free will and fate are different in that you have free will, but have no control over your future. Fate is defined as events that occur in a manner outside of one's control. Events that would have occurred either way despite any efforts. Free will is the power someone has to shape their future through their actions. Free will is in a person's control. No one is making their decisions for them. However, fate does not change due to the actions that are taken, simply because it was already destined to happen. Fate is not something we can control, and cannot fully understand, as depicted in “Barn Burning”, “Hamlet”, and “Slaughterhouse Five” …show more content…
Particularly in the way the titular character Hamlet views his own destiny and how he comes to terms with it. Before the play begins Hamlet’s father, the king, has unexpectedly died. The ghost of Hamlet's father informs him that his uncle Claudius, who has presumed the throne is responsible for his death. It is after this that Hamlet has the choice “to be or not to be”, he can either move on in a peaceful manner, or to seek revenge from temporary anger and murder Claudius. It is after choosing to go through with the latter that Hamlet's actions determine his fate. He is capable of making his own decisions, but those choices are what seals his inescapable fate. Hamlet first expresses his opinions of fate and free will in a discussion with his friend Horatio at the start of the play. When he says “nations ivery, or fortune's star” reflects his belief that a person's fate isn't something they choose, but rather something that simply happens to them. It is not controllable. A “fortune's star” refers to a person's destiny happening to them by chance. Hamlet makes conscious decisions that affect his life in powerful ways that could have been avoided had he taken a different road. Once he goes down this path his bloody fate has been …show more content…
In “Barn Burning,” the main character’s father was an arsonist that kept setting ablaze his family’s life by committing crimes and forcing them to constantly move, displacing the main character, having to pack up his life every time his father went on a fire frenzy. The main character did not have the choice for his father to be a criminal, causing an ever changing lifestyle, but he used his free will to remove himself from his family by admitting his father as guilty, killing his father and removing himself by running away from his toxic family. It was already set in stone that he would betray his father, and his family would disown him, but his choice to plead guilty was completely free