Introduction
Literature, mythology, and cultural stories have often depicted the themes of fate and ambition as interconnected. Ambition can be defined as the desire to achieve a particular goal, while fate is a predetermined course beyond human control (Mallah 5). Two literary works, D.H. Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, explore the relationship between the themes of Ambition and Fate.
At first glance, the two short stories, written at different times, seem unrelated, but upon further introspection, commonalities in themes appear. In both stories, the protagonists, Paul Morel, and Oedipus, try to overcome fate through ambition, but the quest comes at a devastating cost, resulting in their destruction. The story and the play reveal the dangers of a quest for success through ambition while ignoring a person’s predetermined destiny.
Fate and Ambition in The Rocking-Horse Winner
Lawrence’s analogy depicts the theme of fate and how ambition cannot help change this course. He uses a middle-income family in post-World War England to reveal that some homes are destined for poverty, and whichever actions they take, they cannot avoid this. The narrative communicates this belief using Paul, the youngest child and the only family with a great desire to achieve financial success. His father is consumed with the desire to achieve social status, which leaves the family with significant financial deficits (Lawrence 253).
The mother, Hester, is sick of the family’s financial struggles and creates an atmosphere that makes the children want to be ambitious and try all means to gain wealth. Paul discovers a way of making money using unnatural powers of predicting which horse should win a race while riding in his rocking horse, but this is against fate, as indicated. Lawrence’s tale is full of imagery, and the reader must learn to embody some aspects to be representative of others. For instance, the rocking horse used by Paul represents the supernatural powers that people like Paul can use to gain wealth and affluence.
Paul’s pursuit of financial success is driven by his mother’s obsession with material wealth and his desire to fulfill her wishes and get her admiration. His ambition is fulfilled by being consumed in the horse race prediction using his rocking horse. The pursuit of success makes Paul neglect himself, resulting in mental and physical challenges (Lawrence 252). The author uses the narrative to portray the negative impacts of unchecked ambition. It reveals that determination is not just limited to the quest for power and personal glory but could also be contributed by the desire to fulfill external pressure, as in the case of Paul.
Lawrence integrates the theme of fate in his narrative, where he starts by cautioning that there is never enough money. He states that even luck runs out with time. These statements convey the theme of destiny, the eternal force controlling people’s destinies regardless of their actions. Despite the chance Paul had to predict which horse would be able to win a race, it ultimately ran out, leaving him in great depression and physical exhaustion (Lawrence 253). Lawrence shows that despite the noble intentions of a person’s ambitions, they can not be achieved when there is an unyielding fate. This narrative is a cautionary tale for readers who may think their aspirations and hard work should yield success, as destiny and luck have a more prominent role.
Fate and Ambition in Oedipus the King
The story of Oedipus the King happens in the Greek town of Thebes, which believes in fate and destiny and that, most times, human actions are futile. The theme of ambition portrays itself through Oedipus, the King, who tries to seek counsel from the oracle on how this curse can be ended. The vision, however, brings a disturbing revelation of the King’s fate, revealing that he is destined to kill his biological father and marry his mother, something that Oedipus proposes to avoid (Sophocles). Ambition to flee fate reveals itself in Oedipus’s actions to flee Corinth, where the parents he believes to be his are to Thebes, further pushing himself nearer to accomplishing the prophesied fate.
On the way, Oedipus kills a man, and he is hailed as a great hero upon arrival, showing that what a person may view as noble actions could be their demise. In his quest, he summons a blind prophet who reluctantly tells him that the killer of Laius shall be a brother to his children and a son and husband to his mother, revealing the theme of being ambitious to gain knowledge is, at times, best when left alone. In his quest to discover the truth,
Oedipus learns that the man he killed on the road was Laius, his biological father, and that his wife, Jocasta, is his mother, which reveals that destiny cannot be avoided (Sophocles). The tale ends with Jasasta killing herself and Oedipus, now blind, submitting to be exiled or punished in whichever manner the Oracle sees fit, depicting that despite people’s noble actions, the results may sometimes be catastrophic.
Like in The Rocking-Horse Winner, the theme of ambition is evident from the beginning of the narrative, and the motivations are of noble means. Oedipus has a great dream to free his city of Thebes from the plague of despair and suffering that has ravaged it for a long time (Sophocles). His ambition makes him summon his bother to go and question the oracle about the cause of the problem, which reveals that he is to kill his parents. Oedipus continues his quest to know who killed the King, showing his genuine duty to serve his people.
In his quest to achieve his ambition, the theme of fate runs supreme. This destiny has long origins, having been revealed to Laius and Jocasta that their son would kill the father and marry the mother. In their quest to avert the prophecy, they adopted the son to Corinth as an infant. When Oedipus is informed that he is to kill his parents, he thinks the Oracle refers to the adopted parents. However, on the way, he kills Laius, his biological father, and the King, knowing who he is. He then ends up marrying his mother, Jocasta, as the prophecy had been. The story shows that it always comes true despite humans’ efforts to escape destiny.
Sophocles reveals that despite people being ambitious and taking action to lead to certain ends, they cannot avoid fate. The tale is ironic as Oedipus’s ambition to solve the problems of his community and their King’s slayer leads him closer to accomplishing his fate. The story reveals the oracle as a powerful force whose predictions are always correct and shows that human efforts are always effortless (Sophocles).
It also divulges the tragedy of hubris, which reveals that excessive pride and ambitions can result in a person’s downfall. Oedipus’s father believes that they could outwit destiny by giving up their son for adoption, which proved unsuccessful. Additionally, Oedipus’s excessive ambitions to solve his communities’ problems led to his destruction since fate had him as a problem. This is founded on a Greek maxim of human hopelessness and that no man should be considered fortunate until he dies.
Comparative Analysis of the Themes of Fate and Ambition
Paul and Oedipus share the characteristic of being ambitious and taking all the measures that they believe will bring happiness and satisfaction to their families and communities. In their respective narratives, the characters must deal with the weight their families and societies placed on them when they were born. Paul’s burdens are mainly caused by his mother, who believes her children are responsible for making her rich. On the other hand, Oedipus’s motivations are brought by his noble intention of alleviating the devastation that has been faced by his community and the city of Thebes (Sophocles). The authors reveal that an individual’s quest for glory does not always bring the theme of ambition but to fulfill the external aspirations of other people and parties.
Lawrence and Sophocles aim to show their readers that having ambitions driven by noble intentions is not a precondition for success. They show that if fate is adverse, efforts to get noble results will always be futile. Paul’s desire to achieve financial success is rooted in a genuine desire to alleviate his family’s suffering but depends on lack, which always has boundaries. When luck runs out, one has to stop depending on it lest it leads to depression and financial exhaustion, as was the case with Paul.
On the other hand, Oedipus is presented as a man of noble intentions who would do everything he could to ensure his community’s well-being. However, for him, fate has it that he should be the problem for his community and, thus, the cause of all the devastation and suffering Thebes is going through. The two stories posit that virtuous ambitions result in calamities when not aligned with destiny.
Lawrence’s The Rocking-Horse Winner and Sophocles’ Oedipus the King are cautionary tales for readers of people trying to go against the perils of hubris and uncontrolled ambitions and those trying to go contrary to destiny. The endings of both narratives show a dark picture and a feeling of sorrow. The stories show that, at times, it is good to accept one’s state of being and stop having an uncontrolled thirst for knowledge or material wealth, such as Paul and Oedipus. The tales prompt critical philosophical reasoning in the readers on how their ambitions and desires may not always be good, especially if they are not by their predetermined destinies.
Conclusion
The Rocking-Horse Winner and Oedipus the King show that despite the efforts people may put into achieving a specific goal, it is ultimately impossible to achieve it when fate is against them. Paul’s family’s destiny is to remain poor, and the fate of people who rely on luck to gain wealth is always limited as it runs out. Paul comes to learn this, and his efforts to go against fate lead to physical and mental problems. Oedipus faces it to kill his father and kill his mother. Despite his and the parents’ efforts to avoid this prophecy, their actions always lead nearer to its fulfillment. Thus, the two stories serve as a timeless cautionary tale for all who believe they can avoid their fates through ambition.
Works Cited
Lawrence, David Herbert. “The Rocking-Horse Winner.” The Norton Anthology of English Literature, edited by Stephen Greenblatt, W.W. Norton, 2018, pp. 1250–1261. Weebly. Web.
Mallah, Javid Ahmad. “Does Fate Hinder Freedom? A philosophical Praxis.” Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research, 2023, pp. 1–25. Web.
Sophocles. Oedipus Rex. Translated by Robert Fagles. Viking Penguin, 1984.