> A friend of mine at the U of Michigan mentioned a short story by O'Henry
> which he used in introduction-to-philosophy classes to illustrate the
> meaning of "fatalism" and distinguish it from other determinist etc
> perspectives. The story begins three times, with each time the
> protagonist (a young man in a sheephereding-village) making a totally
> different choice, leading to a totally different life, but each life
> ends with his being killed with the same set of dueling pistols. If
> anyone knows of this story
The story is called "Roads of Destiny and can be found in O. Henry's collection "Roads of Destiny" and Other Story
Here http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/1646
and here http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1646/1646-h/1646-h.htm
I know the story well. It is perhaps one of the first examples of a time-loop story. (Think of Groundhog Day as a classic time-loop movie.) The young shepherd poet leaves the small town to find himself as a poet. Each time he leaves town he takes a separate road. Each road leads to a different live and different life experiences. Each time at the end of his life he is shot by the same gun of the the Marquis de Beaupertuys.
One should contemplate the fact that meaning and experience are different each time even though the end is the same. Perhaps there is not escaping "destiny" but every life has its own "interiority" and one may conclude that every choice is meaningless or that the journey itself is the destination, if not the destiny.
I am obsessed with time loops in fiction and movies. So if anyone would like to submit their analysis of such narratives I would love to hear from you.
Jerry
> one might send it to relevant parties
> off-list so thay might stop being a disgrace to the faculties of Yale
> and Virginia.
>
> Carrol
>