Wednesday, October 27, 2010
As Fate would have it...
We know that Fate/Chance/Destiny is a theme of this novel, but what of it? Ultimately what is Hardy saying about these closely connected universalities through the evolution of his story? Use examples to support your answers, but I challenge you as a class to avoid redundancy (so limit yourself somewhat so as to save room for others.)
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Fate, Chance, and Destiny make their first appearance on page six of Hardy's novel. Hardy introduces the theme as a way to reveal the inner workings of Susan Henchard and, as the reader will later learn, of other characters as well. Susan's perception that "anything is possible at the hands of Time and Chance except perhaps fair play" expresses the idea that fate is unpredictable, uncontrollable, blind, and cruel. Susan's somewhat cynical notion of Fate is not surprising considering the series of events that play out in the novel. Her attitude towards Fate and the discussion we had in class today, however, beg the question as to whether Fate is truly blind or if a character creates his/her own Destiny.
ReplyDeleteI think Hardy is saying that Fate and Chance can really impact a characters Destiny. Had Susan and Henchard not gone to Weydon Priars, or had the furmity woman not sold rum, Henchard would have never lost Susan and Elizabeth Jane. Had Newsom not been there, Susan's destiny would have been completely altered. What if Farfrae had gone to America? The Chance involved in his choice to stay truly impacts every character. I think Hardy is trying to show us that Fate which has a very similar definition to Destiny can sometimes be thrown off course by Chance.
ReplyDeleteI believe the purpose of this book is to draw reader's attention to the fact that fate can be cruel if you are not aware of your surroundings. So many of the conflicts in this book could have been avoided if truth had not been hidden. Henchard is unaware of the fact that Susan is alive, and gets himself into trouble by fooling around with another woman. Farfrae is unaware of the fact that Lucetta was the girl Henchard fooled around with. Had he known, Lucetter could not have died of fright that Farfrae would find out. I do not think it is chance that these secrets were eventually discovered, or that they created chaos. When someone doesnt know the full extent of a situation, they cant make a fully educated decision.
ReplyDeleteContinuing on Alex's comment: I think the fate is the fact that they were not aware of their surroundings. The fact that there was no way of knowing what would ultimately create conflict for them, is the fate of the situation. As she said, had they known these things, the aforementioned bad things would not have occurred.
ReplyDeleteDespite the numerous encounters with ill-fated situations, there were also several situations in which fate worked in favor of some of the characters. Specifically, when Henchard went to the bridge with the intention of drowning himself, the dummy of himself fatefully floated by, saving his life.
Had Elizabeth-Jane married Farfrae in the first place, Lucetta would never have married Farfrae. And had Lucetta not married Farfrae, Henchard probably would have married her and he wouldn't have directed so much hate towards Farfrae. The whole rest of the book would be different. Lucetta "kindly took what fate offered" (166) when Farfrae was presented to her though she believed that she could have aimed higher than Farfrae after breaking away with Henchard. Hardy's many mentions of fate and destiny present the idea that whatever happens is meant to happen and that we are not in control. I like what Lauren said, that perhaps chance can interfere with fate, is one's character determined by fate or do people have everything in their hands?
ReplyDeleteHardy does mention that Fate is an cruel thing, but Fate is also the reality of what is going on. I agree with that the character's reaction to the situation of Fate usually had to do with how much information they were given. Henchard, who is a very impulsive character, usually reacted without knowing all of what was going on, while Elizabeth Jane, seemed to always understand as much of the audience in Destined situations (ex. the Lunch with Henchard, Lucetta and Farfrae, an exception being the Goldfinch). Another characteristic that makes EJ's reactions a little more mundane is her "strong sense that neither she not any human being deserved less than was given" (385). She doesn't selfishly stir situations like many of her counterparts do. (Sorry, I sort of went off on an off topic tangent).
ReplyDeleteChance is more of a luck thing, and can be changed, while Destiny and Fate are permanent. Sort of going back to what I just said, EJ is the calmest character because she accepts Fate with more grace than any of the other characters. She is a bit flustered at times, but she is no where near as dramatic as Henchard. Hardy shows us that Fate is cruel, Fate is reality. I'd like to re-read Mayor of Casterbridge to see the emphasis Hardy not only put on Fate but also track the ending of the book throughout the book. If its fated for all main characters to die except EJ and Farfrae, are there heroic qualities in these characters? Darwin said something along the lines of the people to live the longest aren't always the strongest, but the ones most adaptable to change. Fate is blind, as Hardy proves, and contrasts characters in their ability to accept. Although it could seem that they are picking their own Destiny, I think it's the grace he gives the characters in accepting their Destiny that makes it seem as if they are picking it themselves. Henchard would have never wanted to end up where he did, and his impulsive reactions made his Fate seem the cruelest.
I agree with Riley, I wish I could go back and re-read the novel focusing on fate, chance, and destiny. I think that it is chance that Susan and EJ go back to the fair to find the same furmity woman that was there the year Susan was sold to Newsom, and the fact that she remembers Michael Henchard. I think that it was fate that EJ and Farfrae ended up together in the end because of the obstacles they were put through in the beginning of their relationship. Henchard tried to keep them apart and the Lucetta came into town and practically stole him from EJ- the scene where he goes to her house looking for Elizabeth-Jane. It was sad that so many people had to die for them to eventually marry. But it was inevitable, in my opinion. These examples show the reader that fate, destiny, and chance will prevail.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Lauren on this one. Fate and destiny seem so concrete, but chance is something that occurs that can alter it all. We've spoken in class about the many times about the chance of the characters' timing. For example, when Farfrae ventures to Lucetta's house for the first time in search for Elizabeth, who left only minutes before on Lucetta's bidding. Without this meeting, the course of the characters' lives and the course of the book would be completely altered. Henchard may have won Lucetta's heart after all, stopping him from reaching the pit of his downward spiral. Farfrae might have married Elizabeth-Jane, thus mending his relationship with her father before they passed the point of no return in the form of Henchard's attempted murder. Ultimately, as Lauren said, the novel is about the smallest incidences of chance altering something so important and seemingly unalterable as a person's destiny/fate.
ReplyDeleteAs Riley pointed at earlier, Henchard is a very impulsive character, and, in my opinion, his impulsiveness is what the Chance is composed of that drives his Fate in often worrisome directions. If we really look back at the big picture, Henchard's life would have been much different and possibly calmer if he hadn't gotten drunk and sold off Susan, which brought about a Destiny that he created for himself. Once he began to entangle himself with people like Lucetta and Farfrae, his actions set off a chain reaction, creating his unchangable Fate. At certain points, Henchard seems to realize that his Fate/Destiny is almost reckless. Because of his impulsiveness, he lacks patience and Chance always prevails for Henchard to make bad decisions, making his Fate even worse. I do wish I had read the novel noticing this overall theme of how Fate and Destiny are uncontrollable once there are set off by actions of Chance.
ReplyDeleteI would like to comment on the quote we discussed earlier in class.
ReplyDelete"But her strong sense that neither she nor any human being deserved less than was given, did not blind her to the fact that there were others receiving less who had deserved much more" (Page 310 or last paragraph of novel).
Putting this quote within the last paragraph of the novel, Hardy is opening up the notion of Fate and Destiny. We are questioned on fate and luck; do you truly deserve everything that happens to you? Or is it your character that paves your pathway in life?
Throughout the story we always thought that it was Henchard who was messing with fate by always acting on impulse and that Elizabeth Jane was the one who trusted her morals, and went with the flow. But as I think about it, what if it was Hardy who was messing with the definition of fate. I mean, he ends the story leaving the reader questioning and re questioning the notion of Fate, Chance, and Destiny and how they all intertwine....But what if Hardy didn't really know what he thought of fate, so he played with different aspects of it by interpreting them through his characters? If you think about it, all of his characters were so extreme (except for EJ) that maybe each character was Hardy's own personal definition of fate, and so on.
I think it is important to realize that each character presents a unique outcome in terms of Fate and Destiny. Farfrae, Henchard, Elizabeth-Jane, and Lucetta were all affected by fate in different ways which, in effect, led to the culmination of each character's destiny.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to remember that through the experiences of each of the different characters fate is characterized in one of two ways. it seems that most of the time fate is cruel and for the most part a negative thing, particularly because almost all of the characters go through phases in which they are suffering at the hands of fate, particularly for Henchard and for a short period of time Lucetta (due to her death). However, in fate can be a positive thing, as seen with Farfrae's success and Elizabeth-Jane's eventual marriage with Farfrae. Farfrae and Henchard are polar opposites in terms of how fate affects them. Farfrae is favored by fate throughout the book, and it is difficult to think of a single isntance that has a negative outcome for him. Henchard, on the other hand, is not favored by fate. His life is plagued with suffering and terrible misfortune inbetween period of good fortune.
Chance, however, is just as influential of destiny. I feel like chance has a litle bit more relevance to the decisions characters make. Henchard seems to suffer from terrible luck, as he always happens upon something 5 minutes late for 5 minutes too early, and this is often because of his impulsive behavior. He sold the corn to early before the weather prediction the seer made turned out to be correct after all. He opens Susan's letter just after having impulsively decided to tell EJ that he was her father. This happens time and time again for Henchard, while Farfrae always seems to be right on the money, and so it seems that chance favors him. Farfrae is never too rushed, never too behind.
I think that the characters who get into the most trouble are the ones trying to control their Fates/Destinies. The characters who are unhappy with their situations and try to manipulate others in order to change them are the ones who end up dying by the end of the novel. Henchard constantly plots revenge on people and tries to control outcomes in order to benefit himself and gain a good image. Susan is unhappy with her Fate after Henchard drunkenly sells her, so goes back to Henchard in order to change it. Lucetta, like Henchard, manipulates people to get what she wants. None of these characters are ever satisfied.
ReplyDeleteElizabeth-Jane and Farfrae, who accept their Fates and are willing to adapt to them (as Riley was saying) have the best outcomes in the end.
So, what I think Hardy is saying is that those of us who try to maintain our happiness despite our situations are the ones who will inevitably be happiest in the end. It is useless to try and control our Destinies because of Chance, which cannot be controlled. It is best to just accept our current circumstances and try to make the best of them.
Elizabeth Jane is a character who strongly believes in Fate. This is probably why she holds the belief that "happiness was but the occasional episode in a general drama of pain," and doesn't seem very effected when really unfortunate things happened to her or people treated her badly. She thought it was just her lot in life. What Jana mentioned above about characters trying to control their fate and having unfortunate consequences holds true here. Elizabeth Jane tried the least to manipulate her life and the lives of those around her...and she ended up the happiest.
ReplyDeleteOops, I just read that Riley and Jana said the exact same thing.
Oh well, great minds...(right? :) )
I guess I could be helpful and provide a good quote from Elizabeth Jane at the end: "And in being forced to class herself among the fortunate she did not cease to wonder at the persistence of the unforseen...."
“…she had the hard, half-apathetic expression of one who deems anything possible at the hands of Time and Chance except perhaps fair play”(6). I think that ultimately, Hardy is saying that humans have no control over the future, unless we provoke it. While this is an elementary observation¬, it is important nonetheless. When we meet Michael Henchard for the second time, eighteen years after the furmity incident, he strives for nothing but to maintain his position in society. As story the drags on, we see his innate morality deteriorate. Donald Farfrae causes Henchard to make decisions that will gravely alter his future, leading him on a path to destruction.
ReplyDeleteWhile all three of these are driving forces in the book, it is fate and chance that ultimately control each characters destiny. Not only in the ironic situations, but in many of them, we see a sort of domino effect of events. This is a recurring element throughout the whole book as we notice that if one thing wouldn't have happened or would have happened differently, the following events and outcomes would be completely different.
ReplyDeleteTied in with these three themes, it seems karma plays a large role in this novel as well. Although Henchard is able to avoid his haunted past for a while, it eventually catches up with him, tormenting him for his previous mistakes.
ReplyDeleteCharacters such as Donald on the other hand, who are able to keep their composure and seem more morally conscious, are rewarded throughout the novel. Through his growing reputation throughout Casterbridge, Donald quickly rises through the social classes of the town.
Fate does not seem to merely happen, but to test the characters. It brings strange and often times stressful situations, and rewards those who are able to face these challenges, but condemns those who fall to the pressure.
I definitely saw Fate and Destiny playing a huge role within this story. While looking up examples I was reminded of the butterfly effect theory. The one that states that even the simple act of a butterfly flapping its wings can drastically alter the future. This made me ask the question: what if-kind of like Lauren was saying. What if Henchard had found the note before telling Elizabeth-Jane that he was his father? What if Susan had never died? What if Lucetta had just stayed in Jersey? The Destiny of these peoples lived would have been drastically altered.
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