Freed by Fate
Despite staying up all night, the boy didn’t finish his science project and he had accepted that he would just fail the assignment, when suddenly he got a message saying that school had been cancelled due to the weather. Or in the case of a woman lost in a big city; she knows where she needs to be, but doesn’t know how to get there. Somehow a random person she asks for help is going to the same exact place and helps her get there. Similarly, a person is driving on a road and their tire pops, so they go skidding to the side, just missing a fatal crash. In daily life everyone finds themselves in places where fate comes to the rescue. In the classic Greek epic The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles, and the modern take …show more content…
Odysseus journeys up to the place where Circe directed him to summon the ghosts of the underworld. There, he learns from Tiresias, the blind prophet, to “‘keep the beasts unharmed... and [he] may still reach Ithaca’” (Fagles 11.125-126). While Odysseus gains insight on his plans, Tiresias delivers fate to him within a brilliant piece of advice of how to navigate through the rest of his expedition. Before Everett and his friends climb aboard a handcar with an old man, they have no idea they will learn of their destiny. The Seer, an old blind man, similar to Tiresias, speaks of a quest and they “must travel a long and difficult road” in order to find the sought-after treasure (O Brother). Fate delivers this message so Everett might take an adventure that will eventually lead him to his family. Fate’s next stop is at a dark theater, where Everett and Delmar are relaxing and all of a sudden, prisoners pile in to watch a motion picture. Pete, a friend and current convict, turns around and quickly gives them instructions, comparable to how Tiresias did in the underworld. Pete explains their future fate and exclaims through a whisper, “‘Do not seek the treasure!’” (O Brother). Fate has sent Pete to inform them with this knowledge so they won’t be ambushed by the cops when they escape and go down to the valley, although it will completely cease …show more content…
Even when desperation set in, the heroes always believed in the power of fate so that when “there [came] a road to cross…[they wouldn’t] get lost” because destiny had a higher plan for them (King, “ O Brother, Where Art Thou?”). Fate’s way of reappearing in forms of people, nature, and prophets, to aid Odysseus and Everett, reinforces the true meaning of fate. When coming across predicaments that were beyond a mortal’s control, higher powers kept the men alive. During any time in life when anxiety or hopelessness takes control of a situation, destiny will always be present to guide or reassure safety to someone in
Despite staying up all night, the boy didn’t finish his science project and he had accepted that he would just fail the assignment, when suddenly he got a message saying that school had been cancelled due to the weather. Or in the case of a woman lost in a big city; she knows where she needs to be, but doesn’t know how to get there. Somehow a random person she asks for help is going to the same exact place and helps her get there. Similarly, a person is driving on a road and their tire pops, so they go skidding to the side, just missing a fatal crash. In daily life everyone finds themselves in places where fate comes to the rescue. In the classic Greek epic The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles, and the modern take …show more content…
Odysseus journeys up to the place where Circe directed him to summon the ghosts of the underworld. There, he learns from Tiresias, the blind prophet, to “‘keep the beasts unharmed... and [he] may still reach Ithaca’” (Fagles 11.125-126). While Odysseus gains insight on his plans, Tiresias delivers fate to him within a brilliant piece of advice of how to navigate through the rest of his expedition. Before Everett and his friends climb aboard a handcar with an old man, they have no idea they will learn of their destiny. The Seer, an old blind man, similar to Tiresias, speaks of a quest and they “must travel a long and difficult road” in order to find the sought-after treasure (O Brother). Fate delivers this message so Everett might take an adventure that will eventually lead him to his family. Fate’s next stop is at a dark theater, where Everett and Delmar are relaxing and all of a sudden, prisoners pile in to watch a motion picture. Pete, a friend and current convict, turns around and quickly gives them instructions, comparable to how Tiresias did in the underworld. Pete explains their future fate and exclaims through a whisper, “‘Do not seek the treasure!’” (O Brother). Fate has sent Pete to inform them with this knowledge so they won’t be ambushed by the cops when they escape and go down to the valley, although it will completely cease …show more content…
Even when desperation set in, the heroes always believed in the power of fate so that when “there [came] a road to cross…[they wouldn’t] get lost” because destiny had a higher plan for them (King, “ O Brother, Where Art Thou?”). Fate’s way of reappearing in forms of people, nature, and prophets, to aid Odysseus and Everett, reinforces the true meaning of fate. When coming across predicaments that were beyond a mortal’s control, higher powers kept the men alive. During any time in life when anxiety or hopelessness takes control of a situation, destiny will always be present to guide or reassure safety to someone in