Sunday, February 2, 2014

Destiny: A Form of Truth?

 
             In any piece of text we are presented with, we are told a story from another’s perspective. We can either choose to wholeheartedly believe the speaker of the story, or we can take what is said with a grain of salt. As readers we are always striving to look past the biases and come away with the absolute truth. However, in both this episode of Supernatural and in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”, the line between truth and lie blurs. We know that our protagonists are trying to evade their impending destinies, but that’s about all we can be sure about. After all, the story is told from their perspective, not ours.
            In this episode of Supernatural, Sam and Dean confront Chuck’s vision in opposite ways. Sam accepts that Lilith will come to find him, but believes that he will have the upper hand when the time arrives. On the other hand, Dean does everything in his power to avoid Lilith’s arrival. And while the brothers handle their predicament differently, they do have some things in common. Both Sam and Dean take whatever precautions they can so their future can play out how they want it to. They believe they have the power to control their fate. In this way neither of them accepts the truth of Chuck’s vision. They attempt to create their own truths. In other words, Sam and Dean attempt to create their own destinies.
            Peyton Farquahar in “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge,” also does not accept his fate. He envisions a heroic escape. He imagines himself undoing his noose, dodging bullets, and swimming ashore to his wife. We as readers eventually come to realize this as Farquahar’s hallucinations, and we are upset to learn that our protagonist is dead. Throughout the duration of his execution, Farquahar creates his own version of the truth. He perceives himself as a hero and we let him. Like Sam and Dean, Farquahar plays with the truth by doing everything he can think of to elude his destiny. But while the brothers use wit and action to cheat fate, all Farquahar uses is his imagination. And ultimately he fails to make his version of truth into a reality. He succumbs to his destiny, his lifeless body swinging from Owl Creek Bridge.

1 comment:

  1. I like you're analysis of the characters different actions towards their know destinies. This made me question what it would be like if we, in reality, knew our own destinies, and how would we react? I think there are multiple reasons why we don't know what our end result will be. If we did, what motivation would we have to do anything? We all have the same end: death. Those who live in fear of it become stifled, which is why I think most people don't think that far in advance. We plan for the tangible and hopeful, but not for the expected. Men and women don't start 401k's with the plan to die at 50. This is why we can't know where life will take us. This is supposed to be a journey that we control with every decision we make. If I knew my destination like Sam, Dean, or Peyton I'm not sure I'd be able to accept it.

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