Fate and Destiny
By Robert Grimes
Who can tell us what Fate and Destiny are?
Who can tell us what our Fate is?
Who can tell us what our Destiny is?
Fate. Destiny.
People say we cannot choose our Fate, but we can choose our Destiny.
People say we are Fated or Destined to do/become something.
Fate. Destiny.
Are they different?
Are they the same?
People say we can choose Destiny and we are Fated to do it.
People say that our Destiny is open, but our Fate is sealed.
Are Fate and Destiny the same?
If our Destiny has yet to be chosen but our Fate is sealed, then is not our Destiny already chosen, but unseen to us until the opportune moment?
Fate. Destiny.
When is the opportune moment?
At what point in our life will our Fate and Destiny be revealed?
Or will we realize what our Fate and Destiny are only when it is too late?
Or will we pass our Fate and Destiny without knowing it?
Fate. Destiny.
If someone tells us what our Fate and Destiny are, will we like what we hear?
Or will you strive against the path set before you?
I really like the poem you chose, “Fate and Destiny” by Robert Grimes. The repetition of “Fate. Destiny” shows how perplexed the narrator is as he attempts to work his mind around what fate and destiny are, and what hand he has in determining them. Honestly when I was reading it I myself was gradually going into the same state, where I would have to read back the questions he was asking, so open ended to interpretation, and attempt to make an answer out of them. The questions asked in the poem, such as “Are Fate and Destiny the same?” are very demanding and broad questions, which applies nicely to your independent novels, in which the protagonists themselves were presented with their own challenges and choices to make. I thought it was very applicable how you were saying that many of the characters within Jeanette Winterson’s novels are very 2D, and this can be seen also in the broadness of fate and destiny, in which the definition is so vast that the answers to our questions about it tend to remain the same. The journey from adolescent to adulthood, a fairytale characteristic in “Battle of the Sun” comes to an end through the result of what that fate or destiny is. Their choices and actions determine, or according to the poem may not determine, what the outcome is, and can reflect the growth of the character in regards to their maturity to adulthood.
ReplyDeleteThis poem poses the question “are fate and destiny the same?” The answer is not yet determined by the speaker; rather this initial question seems to lead the speaker to asking more questions about fate and destiny. The repetition of the words fate and destiny cause the readers to answer the rhetorical questions for themselves as they read the poem. Personally, I have always thought that fate had more of a negative connotation to it than destiny fate seems death-like whereas “destiny is open.” When picturing destiny, I see a future or success. Fate and destiny in my opinion are different but they share a common trait in that neither fate nor destiny can be foreseen. The rhetorical questions keep the readers engaged and actively thinking or reading. I liked the final line of the poem “will you strive against the path set before you?” another rhetorical question, this keeps the readers thinking even after the poem concludes.
ReplyDelete