“Things and actions are what they are, and the consequences of them will be what they will be; why then should we desire to be deceived?” (Joseph Butler). In Sophocles’s tragedy, Antigone, the meaning and recognition of fate heavily weighs down Creon’s pride and Antigone’s love.

With a sense of lawful righteousness and tyranny, Creon believes burying Polynices is truly unlawful and seeks obedience in his resolution. “That’s my decision. For I’ll never act to respect an evil man with honours in preference to a man who’s acted well,” (237-239). His consistent stubbornness and character predetermines his fate in the tragedy, as he demands to arrest the individual who refused to follow the law of the land. Creon allows his pride to mark his decisions and influence his destiny, refusing to have mercy on his own nephew.

While Creon’s pride determines his fate, Antigone’s deep love and passion sets the pieces of her life together. She loves her brother Polynices infinitely and refuses to abide by the law, believing he deserves the proper burial despite his actions. “I’ll lie there with him, with a man I love, pure and innocent, for all my crime. My honours for the dead must last much longer than for those up here,” (90-93). At this point during the tragedy, Antigone recognizes that such a deed, in Creon’s eyes, will forever seal her fate. She would rather sacrifice her own life in order to show respect for her deceased brother. Love predetermines the alignment of her actions and the consequences that follow. Driven by the heart instead of the mind, Antigone openly accepts death and denies nothing.

The power of love sets a dark overtone on the city of Thebes, as every character, except for Creon, is deeply affected by Antigone’s decision to bury her disloyal brother. After hearing that Antigone had hanged herself, Haemon and Eurydice decide to take their own lives in the acceptance of fate and utter grief. In the end, Creon’s fate led him to walk in this world alone, knowing that he influenced the fate of his family members. “I don’t know where to look or find support. Everything I touch goes wrong, and on my head fate climbs up with its overwhelming load,” (1487-1490). Creon is the only one without love and left alone in his own misery when the tragedy comes to an end. His fate is marked by the wrongdoings and decisions of his family. It is not until the very end that he recognizes and accepts his own destiny with a wounded heart.

While love and pride influenced the lives of Creon and Antigone, the greatest power and benefactor was fate itself. As Sy Montgomery once stated, “fate is the promise that life is not a random string of tragedy and comedy without meaning. Fate proclaims that our lives are in fact so meaningful, so necessary, that our stories are written by the gods and goddesses, by the heavens themselves.”

Throughout the course of a person’s lifetime he may encounter certain situations that force him to raise the question, “Why me?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” He may wonder how he ended up in the situation and if it was predestined for him to end up in the predicament. Throughout Sophocles’ Antigone we can see the central theme of fate and destiny. Fate is defined as the development of events beyond a person’s control. It is seem as regulated by some supernatural powers. In Antigone, almost all of the characters would meet their destiny and their inevitable fate.

From the very beginning of the play we can see the predetermination of Antigone’s life. As soon as she is born she is confronted with fate and cannot escape her destiny. She is born to a family which includes an incestuous relationship between her parents and her brothers would end up killing each other. We can see the extent to which fate dictates her life. Antigone believed that Polynices was a proper burial and she goes out of her way to make sure  that he will receive it. She knew that doing so she is violating the kings order that no one shall bury Polynices and that death is the consequence of doing so, however, she believed that this was her destiny and that eventually it would come no matter what. She is the vehicle in which her own predetermined fate is carried out. By rebelling and causing her death she has carried out the will of the supernatural powers and of the gods. Creon too was confronted with fate. Creon tried to prohibit Polynices from receiving a proper burial and believed that it was Polynices fate to be left without a burial. At the end he would be left with nothing- no wife and no son- except the crown on top of his head. He believed that it was Polynices’ destiny to die without a proper burial, but he would soon realize that he was totally wrong.

Both Antigone and Creon were victims to their fate and couldn’t escape it no matter how much they tried. Fate was just too powerful and we see that eventually their actions would lead to the destiny that was predetermined for them.

Fate is one of the main ideas that drive the Thebian plays by Sophocles, but fate is not the main theme. Fate is merely a device that moves the play forward – sort of a deus ex machinima device. In Antigone, it is clear that fate plays a role in the outcome of the play, but it serves as a platform to express the themes of religion(gods) and the role of catharsis in Greek society.

The most apparent role of fate is the ominous prediction that Creon will be left with nothing. Of course, fate prevails and his whole family, his son Haemon, his wife, and his other relatives, die. This was only due to Creon’s reluctance to listen to Teiresias. Fate only occurred due to his absurd actions that displeased the gods.

In Greek tragedies, the gods were the bringers of justice, and if you disobeyed the gods, you were cursed with a horrid fate. This wasn’t the case in Oedipus Rex where Oedipus was unlucky enough to be granted a cruel “fate” by the gods, however, the idea of a god’s wrath is more defined in Antigone. In the end, Creon suffered for his actions and Polynices was eventually buried. The fate that the gods bestow can never be avoided.  This idea of fate subtly, yet strongly introduces catharsis to the audience. Sophocles wanted people to experience pity for the main character, and fear of the gods/fate. This was the common goal of Greek tragedies, thus fate’s role in Antigone was important to the play-writer’s intent.

We’ve all watched the Disneyfied version of Hercules and seen those three ugly creatures with the scissors all sharing one eye. Yeah, it’s the Fates! Greek Mythology speaks of the Fates, who are these three sisters also called The Moirae. Well, the Greeks believe in a higher power that was in control at all times, some brave souls have tried defying them despite knowing what happens eventually. In Antigone, the characters all succumb to the sweeping decision of fate.

Poor Ismene mourns her “two brothers, both butchered/ in a single day—that ill-fated pair/  with their own hands slaughtered one another/and brought about their common doom”  (69-72). She grieves at what fate has brought upon her life. She cannot help but feel overwhelmed, thinking “we’ll die far worse than all the rest,/ if we defy the law and move against/the king’s decree, against his royal power” (74-76). Women did not hold a lot of power and rebelling would not result in any change. Ismene could not bury her brother and has to come to terms with abandoning his uncovered body.

Antigone recgonizes her own end, yet she cannot help but feel obligated to her loved ones. The King Creon has spoken and Antigone will be executed. “And so for me meeting this fate/ won’t bring any pain” (526-527). In this tragedy, we see the characters acknowledging the presence of fate and its effects of mankind but it still attempts to break free of the mold and even go beyond fate’s restrictions.

Fate plays a crucial role in the play Antigone as well as other plays by Sophocles. Fate is something that will not change to anyone’s wishes. Fate is predestined and will occur even if you try to resist it. Like the story of her grandfather Laius. Who tried to kill his son, so he wouldn’t kill him but he couldn’t escape fate and Oedipus killed Laius.

In Antigone, there is no escaping fate her whole life was predestined to be cursed. When the story begins she has already suffered the shame of her father, and then goes on to lose both her brothers. When Antigone goes against Creon’s order that Polynices will not be buried and will be left to rot she is going against Creon and the Gods. She knows that the consequences will be death and still she chooses to do it because it is her fate to rebel and die.  The prophecies in the play also display that fate is inescapable and it is omniscient. When the old blind prophet comes in and tells Creon that his son will die but no stranger shall kill him. Creon doesn’t believe it but fate yet again succeeds and Haemon kills himself, Creon’s son. Everything that occurs in the text has all been predestined by fate. From Antigone’s birth to Haemon falling in love with her have all been predestined and there is no escaping it. The characters in the play should embrace fate and accept it because it seems that there is no escape. When it seems like she has escaped from a tragic death, and Creon’s is coming to free her but she has already died. Although making choices and decisions seem to be of free will it is really just fate allowing you to think that you have a choice in life. But, the truth is that fate is omniscient and omnipotent.

While both Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake and Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close use remembrance to help the reader understand the characters, they use it in different ways and for different reasons. Lahiri uses remembrance to show how different environments and cultures affected the members of the Ganguli family. Jonathan Safran Foer’s use of remembrance involves the impact of tragic historical events on the lives of the characters in his novel.

In The Namesake, Ashima and Ashoke move to the United States from India and their family must try to find the right balance between the two different cultures in their lives. Ashima and Ashoke, having grown up in India, miss parts of its culture while they are in America. Their memories of the members their families and many aspects of their life and culture in India provide them with a source of comfort as they try to accept their lives in a new land. Their children, on the other hand, are confused about what their own culture is. It is only through many different experiences and remembering events from his family’s past that Gogol is able to find the right balance for himself. Remembrance allows the members of the family to look back and adapt their lifestyle to the right balance of the two cultures and allows them to keep parts of their old lives that they miss close to their hearts.

In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar Schell must face the tragedy of his father’s death in the September 11 terrorist attacks. He spends the entire novel trying to remember his father and searching for someone who can tell him more about his father. Throughout his journey he meets many people and a number of them have experienced losses or other calamities as well. They talk about their experiences and attempt to move on with their lives. One of the people Oskar meets is a man from his building who lost his wife and has not left his apartment since. After listening to stories about the man’s life, many of which involve his wife, Oskar convinces the man to leave his apartment for the first time in twenty-four years to accompany him on his journey. The novel also includes the stories of Oskar’s grandparents, who lost their families in the bombing of Dresden. Oskar’s grandfather lost the love of his life, the sister of Oskar’s grandmother. The two of them spend their lives remembering the horrific events as well as those that they lost. By the end of the novel, remembrance allows Oskar and his grandparents to accept the deaths that have impacted them so profoundly.

Both books portray the ways in which remembrance can allow people to change and move on but also keep a part of their old culture or loved ones with them. They invoke remembrance of both cultural experiences and tragic experiences to allow the reader to understand the characters and the changes they go through in the novels.

Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel, Namesake, are similar in their ability to evoke remembrance within a reader but the way in which they do it is quite different. Foer relies on tangible objects and events to remind the reader of similar situations. Lahiri, on the other hand, incorporates the idea of roots and origins into Namesake. These themes help illuminate the past and, consequently, the future for the main characters in both novels.

In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar clings to objects to remember his father and his journey. Oskar’s obsession with the key he found in his father’s vase drives him to explore, by himself or accompanied by old Mr. Black, the urban jungle that is New York City. As Oskar continues his journey he catalogs his memories in photographs that he adds to his scrapbook. This scrapbook serves as his link to the adventures he had and the people he met. The idea of physical remembrance is not only expressed through Oskar but by a few other characters as well. Mr. Black’s apartment is a collection of his travels and adventures with the most important piece being his catalog of names with one-word descriptions. Oskar’s grandfather remembers his pain for the loss of his first true love with his “yes” and “no” tattoos and by marrying Oskar’s grandmother because of the physical similarities she shares with her sister (the first true love). These tokens of the past are the character’s want to hold on to something lost whether it be youth, love, adventures, or even a father.

In Namesake, a major theme arises that centers on the idea of a person’s cultural roots: their family, their culture, and their home country. Gogol is mentally torn between India, the country where his family is from and the heritage they attempt to raise him with, and the United States, where he was born and raised. He feels different and chooses his girlfriend and her American family over his own, Indian family. He eventually realizes that he must embrace both the Indian and American aspect of himself, which sends the message of self-understanding. Gogol is also ashamed of his name once he learns that he was named after Nicolai Gogal, a well-known Russian poet who lost his mind. Remembrance does not always have to be a memory, but can also be a reawakening through understanding who you are and where you came from.

Both Jhuma Lahiri and Jonathan Safran Foer evoke remembrance within the reader but in two different ways. Foer writes about loss and sadness, which everyone can relate to in a specific way. In this sense he is bringing up specific memories with general circumstances in the book. Lahiri evokes remembrance through self-understanding and tracing one’s roots and heritage to different countries and cultures. Although they use different themes, Foer and Lahiri both emphasize the affects that the past can have on a person and their actions in the present.

In Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, Gogol Ganguli is a conflicted young man, torn between the values of his Indian parents and his own desires to be American. In his confusion, he foolishly cuts himself off from his family and culture to lead an All-American life. Then, Gogol’s father dies a sudden death. Shocked and overcome with grief, he intensely regrets not having appreciated his father more. Gogol recalls a particularly moving memory of his father from a family trip they made a long time ago. His father had said, “How long do I have to remember it?”…”Try to remember it always,” he said once Gogol had reached him, leading him slowly back across the breakwater, to where his mother and Sonia stood waiting. “Remember that you and I made this journey, that went together to a place where there was nowhere left to go” (187*) This memory reflects shared memories between father and son, a bond that even transcends the father’s death. As he looks back on this and other memories, Gogol finally reaches a level of acceptance about his father’s death. The book concludes with a significant scene where Gogol picks up a book by his namesake, the Russian author, Nikolai Gogol, a book given to him by his father. He will remember his father by honoring the values he passed on to his son and family and in doing so attempt to atone for past mistakes.

In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Oskar Schell is a precocious nine-year-old who has lost his father in the 9/11 attacks. The incident has affected him deeply, his pain intensified by regret. Oskar’s regrets his inability on that fateful day to pick up the phone when his father called just moments before he died. It is clear that he idolizes his father, “I loved having a Dad who was smarter than the New York Times, and I loved how my cheek could feel the hairs on his chest through his T-shirt, and how he always smelled like shaving, even at the end of the day. Being with him made my brain quiet. I didn’t have to invent a thing” (12) Now, after his death, Oskar wishes everyone else to idolize his father too – he is worried when his mom meets a new man Ron and appears to have gotten over his father’s death, outraged when Mr. Black did not have a card for Thomas Schell in his biological directory, desperate when he pleads with William Black to recollect every single detail about his father on the day that he bought the blue vase. But, unlike Gogol’s private remembrance and realization in The Namesake, Oskar’s remembrance of his father takes on a larger significance when he goes on a hunt for the mysterious lock. Various other characters in the novel such as Abby Black, who regrets her broken marriage, Mr. Black who regrets not having stayed home and appreciated his wife more while she lived, Grandpa Schell who regrets a life not lived and Oskar’s grandmother who regrets not having the courage to ask for respect and love from her husband confess their regrets, each of them having their own fond and bitter memories to hold on to. In the end, Oskar has yet to fully come to terms with his father’s death. However, he seems to have gained a degree of acceptance and maturity, bolstered by the numerous memories he has of his father.

In Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, the protagonists go through the painful process of losing their fathers and then rediscovering themselves through remembrance. Both Gogol and Oskar appreciate life more as result of their memories of their fathers, especially since both boys lost their fathers abruptly and with quite a lot left to be said. In both novels, remembrance is synonymous with regret, anger, and disappointment and leads the characters on a journey that changes them forever.

*The page number is according to the First Mariner Books edition of the novel published in 2004

In the stories Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and The Namesake, the authors Jonathan Foer and Jhumpa Lahiri draw their audience in through the strong invocation of memory and remembrance in very similar ways. Throughout the stories, the authors continuously alternate and focus on the point of views and thoughts of several characters. In Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, we read from Oskars’ point of view, and his grandmothers, and his grandfathers, and so on. We are able to learn and understand each character(why Oskar is looking for the key owner or why his grandfather cannot speak) as they constantly refer to their past. In The Namesake, we meet the characters Ashima and Ashoke and Gogol, as Ashima constantly reminisces about her life and family back in Bengali, Ashoke constantly thinks about his life right before his accident and Gogol learns about his fathers past and reasoning behind his name. As so many characters each reminisce about their past, whether remorseful or grateful, it creates a stronger sense of nostalgia and remembrance in the reader as well, that somewhat just radiates throughout the book as you read.

The authors also use a very specific memory of the characters to create an extremely familiarized, recurring feeling in the reader with whatever associated thoughts and memories we will have when the memory comes up. For Oskar, his 9/11 experience about his father is constant and repetitive. Ashoke constantly refers back to the night of his accident on the train ride. We see how the emotions and impact of the certain event have an effect on the growth and action of the character. Because of the September 11 terrorist attack, Oskar spends much of his time looking for closure about his father, searching the city through an entire list of ‘Blacks’. As Ashoke had an almost death experience, he feels grateful for the paper that he thinks saved his life, therefore naming his child Gogol after the author of that book. These authors use major topics in which many readers can relate to: the 9/11 terrorist attack and death itself. By doing so, every time the reader reads about the characters’ recurring memory, it will trigger whatever strong feelings, thoughts, and memories we have associated with these topics.

The books are centered around the remembrance and growth of the characters for the progression of the story. Taking it a step further, the author draws the reader in by evoking remembrance and feelings in the reader yourself, making you think and relate as you read.