The Supernatural episode shows multiple examples of the ways
in which the characters are manipulated by one another, and how they are manipulated
by their own destinies. Throughout
the episode, Sam and Dean attempt to avoid their fates by going against what
Chuck, the author of the stories, writes down. However, by avoiding their fates, they walk directly into
them. For example, they purposefully
rent a room at a hotel that is not called “Red”, though the lights on the sign
blow out, making the hotel show the exact name they were avoiding. Their fates are manipulating them, even
as they try to go against them. Lilith
also uses manipulation to almost coerce Sam into self—sacrifice. She knows he would rather sacrifice
himself than let six million people die and she tells him this. She is almost able to manipulate him by
tapping into his empathy and guilt.
This connects to An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge because as
readers, we are being manipulated into thinking Peyton Farquhar actually
escaped his hanging. Through the
many details provided, we believe he did the impossible. And we are being manipulated into
rooting for him to survive. That
is, until the author brings us back to reality and we realize we were hearing
about the character’s hallucination, and not the actual actions taking
place.
I thought the way you connected the short story and the Supernatural episode with fate and manipulation was interesting because I didn't think they were closely related to each other. I see how fate plays a significant role in the Supernatural episode because the plot line is all about Sam and Dean either attempting to avoid their fates or trying to be one step ahead in order to succeed at the end. But I never considered the idea that fate was manipulating the characters, like the author of "Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" clearly manipulated the reader, so I think your point is thought provoking.
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