And Everyone Cried Incest

I don't especially believe in fate, I believe that God has a plan set up for every person and the bad choices that they make divert them from God's plan, but He has planned for the person to make the mistake because they will learn from it. However, I believe that when people know the future and run from it, they are much more likely to run into the "fate" that they were once trying to flee from. So, I believe in a higher power planning accordingly to the choices that we make.


In Oedipus Rex by Sophocles, Oedipus' parents are told at birth that he is destined to kill his father and marry his mother. They send a servant to kill baby Oedipus, however in a strange twist of events, Oedipus does end up killing his father and marrying his mother. This was not even a bad thing for quite a while as him and his mother ruled the kingdom unknowledgeable about their pending doom from unknown incest. The more that Oedipus ran from the prophecy that was so repulsive, the stronger he fell into the trap and when he discovered the truth, the sin was already committed and the curse had been set upon their kingdom. Had Oedipus' parents not overreacted to the prophecy when he was born he would've been less likely to fall into the trap of the prophecy and sin.

Protector

As a younger sibling, I sometimes feel the need to watch out for my older sister because she trusts everyone, sometimes a little bit too much. She also gets hit on by guys a lot and when I’m around her I feel like I have to be her protector or life will take its course and something bad will happen.

In Atonement by Ian McEwan, Briony’s decisions as a young child drastically change both Robbie and Cecilia’s futures. Briony wants to keep her sister safe from Robbie after reading the letter that he wrote her, so she becomes the driving force, deciding what happens next. Robbie and Cecilia’s relationship had been piloted by fate, until Briony intervened. Had Cecilia not been questioning her way of life or had not felt belligerent at the fountain enough to take off her clothes, the attraction between her and Robbie would have never solidified into love. However, when Briony got involved and accused Robbie of raping Lola and sent him to jail, fate was no longer a part of the picture, but rather the justice system had control this time.

There's No Place Like Home?

As a person is growing up, their parents tend to point them in the right direction and they believe that their parents will never steer them wrong. In most cases, this is true. However, there is also a time when their parent’s guidance is not the best suited for the person’s likes, dislikes and hopes of the future. This is when the position of power changes into their hands.

In The Odyssey by Homer, Odysseus is guided on every adventure that he goes on by Athena. However, his journey still takes him ten years to get back to his family after the Trojan War, something that he probably had more power over than he gave himself credit for. Or would it have taken even longer had Athena not been there to help him out of predicaments that he seemed to always get into? Perhaps the reason that it took Odysseus so long to get home was that he was being punished for taking lovers other than his wife, such as Circe. His men had to remind him that he had a wife, Penelope, and a son, Telémakhos, waiting for him in Ithaca. But it’s kind of a paradox because had he arrived home earlier, he would have not taken these lovers in his loneliness.