Analysis Of The Great Encounter By Paul Roche

Paul Roche’s The Great Encounter, a foreword in The Oedipus Plays of Sophocles lays out truths about human life, both as a single entity and as a component of a much larger universe interconnecting each and everyone one of us. Throughout the piece are scattered ‘general truths’ that serve to summarize aspects of human morality and accomplishment and detail the limits of one’s intellectual self, some of which I can assent to and others which I do not completely agree with. To begin, Roche declares that, “though we may be innocent, we are all potentially guilty, because of the germ of self-sufficiency and arrogance in our nature” (Roche ix), an assertion which I definitely agree with, for it is in human nature to act in the favor of one’s self-interest. …show more content…
But by making unfounded claims, they are only misguiding the general public to attain the power they sought from the beginning, in the process developing a superficial innocent facade behind which is hidden the guilty face that they wholeheartedly know of but will not acknowledge. As Roche moves on from concepts of innocence and greed, he begins to bring forth his views on fate, stating that “it is not what fate has in store for us that matters, but what we do with it when it comes” (Roche ix), which I cannot say I agree with for I take issue with many aspects of the statement. To fairly and constructively critique this assertion, we must understand that if one believes in fate, often used synonymously with destiny, they also recognize its permanence and rigidity in that is predetermined and cannot be changed. Of course, this is the widely held belief, meaning there will be, and are, those who hold the conviction that one’s destiny can be consciously altered, although this is a minority …show more content…
The human mind is capable of convincing itself of even the most bizzare facts as long as they are believed to be true, and in the case of fate, this is no different. If one is to perceive their future as predetermined, either for the worse or the better, they are already leading themselves to a decline in productivity, for the human mind ceases to strive for betterment once it knows that attempts to change are futile even if, in reality, they are not. However, when one is able to approach fate as an unwritten slate, they have an exponentially better chance of accomplishing their goals, for they have successfully torn down the mental barrier that fate has the capacity to build. Instead of approaching fate in an ultimate manner, we should focus on noticing the positive prospects that our fate has the ability to hold, and this minute change in our view of hope can mean