The Pact

In Jodi Picoult's case, destiny was over turned. When cowards choose to take their life in their own hands to end it, that is when the equilibrium of life is overturned and fate is comprimsed. There is no fate in suicide...only a person who is so afraid of their future that his/her life is ended.

Portrait of the Young Man as an Artist

In Portrait, it was Stephen who Stephen was most afraid of. It was his sexuality and vocational calling and artistic abilities that isolated himself from others in an Irish world where familial connections and friends are the main part of existance no matter the age. However, though Stephen was most afraid of himself, it was that fear to discover that drove him in life. It was that fear of his obsession with words and the questions about God that pushed him to leave Ireland, to turn down the preisthood and to find poetry in words such as fetus.

While man is his toughest critic, it is the fear of oneself that pushed him to move forward with his dreams, ambitions, talents, and goals. And in the process, he's lucky to find himself, much like Stephen and escape the chains that hinder his growth.

Crime and Punishment

In Doestoeksvy's Crime and Punishment, Rask. questions his destiny and it's role in the murder he committed. Everything ties in. Is Sonya a coincidence or rather someone placed in his life for a higher purpose to become closer to his faith? Is walking into Svid. den an accident or was the path a one track railroad on which he was the powerless train?