Fate or destiny is it possible to control that which we have no Essay

Fate or destiny is it possible to control that which we have no control of - Essay Example For instance, death and birth are unavoidable. Similarly, there are several other occurrences in life that seem inevitable. Destiny plays an important role in our daily lives. Each and every event in our lives is governed by our destiny. With regards to destiny, we are truly in control of ourselves and we are responsible for our decisions. However, there are some things that are beyond our control, this is what can be regarded as fate. In the larger scheme of things, we feel free as we are human being are able do what they want. If we make the correct decisions in life and act accordingly, no one will prevent us from achieving what we really want. The cultural, divine and psychological forces that can be a hindrance to a person’s destiny but if he or she remains focused he will be able to control his fate. Men struggle and work to attain specific ends, but later realize that there is a power that is beyond their control, which frustrates their efforts. As men age, they accept the power of destiny and its effect on the world around them. Great men such as philosophers and poets also submitted to this power and witnessed as it seemed to favor the favorites and strike its victims. This essay will explore the story by William Faulkner â€Å"Barn Burning† and â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner† by Samuel Coleridge to show that a person is able to control his destiny but has no control over his fate. This power of destiny is represented by the greatest poets including William Faulkner in his work, â€Å"Barn Burning†. Most dramatists often depict heroes as knowledgeable of their destiny and attempting to escape from it. However, by trying to escape from their destiny, a series of consequences result. The consequences bring about their some challenges. Therefore, poets assert that a man cannot avert his or her destiny, whether he knows the destiny or not. Every unconscious or conscious act of the man is one step towards his or her destin y. In the â€Å"Barn Burning†, Abner, is said to â€Å"have an old habit which he had not been permitted to choose for himself† (Faulkner 56). Therefore, this argument can show that a person is not able to change his destiny regardless of the challenges he faces. This clearly shows that the boy has control over his destiny but does not have any control over his fate. It seems there was a supernatural power that dictated his behavior or habit. It is thus impossible for Abner or any other person to control his fate but he has control over his destiny. The forces of fate are also presented in â€Å"The Rime of the Ancient Mariner† by Samuel Coleridge show that there are things beyond our control. For example, the poem talks of death as an incident that is beyond man’s control. It is impossible for an individual to have knowledge of when or how they are going to die. Also, once death is to occur, no one can stop it. The reverse is also true in that, if one is not destined to die, then no one can cause the ultimate death of that person. In part IV of the poem, the persona says â€Å"alone, alone, all, all alone†¦the many men, so beautiful, and they all dead did lie† (Coleridge 89). This point clearly shows that death is fate and no human individual is able to control it. However, if one is able to avoid death through living a good free from any dangers you will live much longer. The author was destined

Death is not an event in life, death is not lived through Coursework

Death is not an event in life, death is not lived through - Coursework Example When the subject turns to death, there is a gloom all around. How should we understand the relation between death and human life Is death meaningful or is it the representative of a meaningless destruction Does death in reality render life as absurd These are some of the frequently asked questions by people gathered to pay their respect for a departed1. In The Human Province by Elias Canetti (Winner of the Noble Prize for Literature in 1981), he confessed that he found more adversaries to the question of death: "'People always ask you what you mean when you rail against death. They want the cheap hopes from you that are droned about in religion and nauseam. But I know nothing. I have nothing to say about it. My character, my pride consists in my never having flattered death. Like everyone else, I have sometimes, very seldom, wished for it, but no man has ever heard me praising death, no one can say that I have bowed to it; I have acknowledged or whitewashed death. I find it as useless and as ever as ever, the basic ill of all existence the unresolved and the incomprehensible, the knot in which everything has always been tied and caught and that no one has ever dared to chop up"2 "When man is alive, he does not feel the pain of death because he is not experiencing death. When a man dies, he does not feel the pain of death because he is dead and, since death is annihilation, he feels nothing."3 In Antiquity the idea of death was contemplated by many philosophers whose opinion was widely diverging. The nihilist Epicurus thought that death was the ultimate end of all things. In contrary, Plato believed in life after death. Seneca, the stoics was of the opinion that death has to be practised by people still alive: Meditare mortem. With Christianity a fundamental change in the perception of death took part. The religion gave new answers to questions regarding death and life after death. People in the medieval times were confronted with death in many aspects of life: the average life expectancy was low (less than 30 years), the child death rate was high-only few children reached adult years. A large part of the populations was extinguished due to frequent epidemics. During the 14th century the European population was decimated by one third due to the plague (The Black Death). The cemeteries surrounding the churches were not only places for the dead, but also for the living. They were also used for celebrations, court agendas, and public congregations. In medieval times the body of the deceased was more or less sacrosanct. During the following 16th-17th centuries this changed dramatically. Due to anatomical autopsies the sacrosanct view of the corpse diminished. In the 18th century the state or the government had major influence on the rituals of burial and funerals. Burial within the church was prohibited and the cemeteries were dislocated from the central part of the cities to more peripheral locations. This led to a decrease of the "presence" of death in everyday life. During the 19th century the secularisation of death progressed further. The burial rites did not celebrate the deceased, but demonstrated the power and importance of the family of the dead. This is evident, also today, in many cemeteries with abundance of monuments from this time. At the same