1. Jay causes a traffic accident which severely wounds another driver and her child but spares Jay any injury and barely even damages his car. He is however arrested on suspicion of recklessness following an investigation of the accident scene. After a night in jail, Jay has to face his father, Zed, who has come to bail him out. Before he agrees to pay, Zed asks his son for an explanation. “Everything happens for a reason,” he says to Jay.
2. Kay lies in her hospital bed clinging to life. She had been drinking heavily the night of the accident, while driving her daughter home. Deeply shamed by her behavior and buoyed by the outpouring of love and concern from her friends who visit her bedside, Kay reconnects with her life and family and resolves to quit her irresponsible behavior. Suffering intense pain from her injuries, she nevertheless tells her friend, “Everything happens for a reason.”
3. Jay has no contact with Kay during her hospitalization, but the death of Kay’s daughter fills him with guilt and remorse. He sees the accident as an indictment of his recklessness but senses the hand of God at work in sparing him. He doesn’t change his behavior in any way, but ever after believes that whatever occurs in his life is God’s will, over which he has no control and for which he has no responsibility. “Everything happens for a reason,” is how he describes the human condition.
4. Zed regrets having raised a son as irresponsible as Jay and resolves to do a better job with his daughter Dee. Together they form an organization called Teens at the Scene that promotes safe teenage driving, accident prevention, and emergency responsiveness. After years of labor, they take the group national, score big, and become very influential, as well as rich. Zed proposes a toast to their good fortune, but Dee replies, “Dad, everything happens for a reason.”
In a Reply below, first identify which of these four declarations are expressions of a belief in fate. Which are not? How do the expressions of fate differ?
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Newspaperlessness 
1. This is not fate. Jay’s father is just looking for an actual, logical explanation for why he did what he did.
2. This is fate. If Kay had never gotten into this accident, then she never would have agreed to turn her life around. Everything happens for a reason.
3. This is fate. Jay’s mind works in a completely different way now. Even of it did not make him a better person, the accident changed his whole way of thinking about life.
4. This is fate. Jay’s father and Dee use what happens as a way to change the lives of others. The accident affected other’s lives in ways no one would have thought. Everything happens for a reason.
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1. Not Fate- Zed simply asks his son Jay for an explanation for the accident
2. Fate- In this example, Kay looks back on what happened and it causes change in her life, good and bad.
3. Not Fate- Jay’s thoughts may be different, but nothing else is. He just now has a scapegoat in his mind for anything that happens.
4. Fate- The accident gave Zed a new outlook on life and drove him to make a difference with his daughter Dee. Their life had taken another path because of that night.
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1. We are left to wonder whether Jay believes in fate or not, but it is clear his father, Jay, does not. He wants an explanation as to why the accident happened, and will not accept Zed’s answer for his recklessness.
2.Kay believes in fate. She uses the idea of fate to justify her change of heart. She believes she was injured to help get her life back together and make better decisions.
3.By blaming the accident on God’s will, Jay believes in fate. He believes that no matter what his choices were, it w as God’s plan for the accident to occur, and therefore he had no control over the situation.
4.Dee does not believe in fate or good/bad fortune. She attributed the group’s success to her and her father’s hard work and hours of labor.
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1. Not Fate
Zed is only asking Jay for an explanation of how the accident occurred.
2. Fate
Kay does believe in fate and is going to use the devastating accident to re-evaluate her life in a positive way.
3. Fate
Jay has an external view of fate because he believes he has no control over what will happen to him. In other words, Jay believes that the work of god controls his fate.
4. Not Fate
Zed and Dee look at the situation as “everything happens for a reason” because of their success that comes from it.
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1.) This is not a belief in fate
Zed asks Jay for an explanation before bailing him out. Zed saying “everything happens for a reason” is an indicator that there is a clear-cut explanation for what Jay has done, and wishes to inquire about it. This makes more sense rather than Zed saying that on the basis that “fate” was the reason his son was brought into jail.
2.) This is a belief in fate
Kay credits fate to her realization of her drinking problem. She is using the accident, and how she lived, as a basis for why she has begun to fix her alcoholism. Unlike in paragraph 1, where “fate” wouldn’t have been an adequate answer to Zed, “fate” would be the reason Kay is where she is.
3.) This is a belief in fate
Jay believes that he cannot change his fate. The things he does now, in spite of indirectly killing Kay’s daughter, does not change what happens to him in life.
4.)This is not a belief in fate
Zed tries to toast to their good fortune, aka good luck. His daughter disagrees when she says “Everything happens for a reason.” She is saying their “good fortune” is actually a result of their hard work, not “fate”; they could’ve not had this good fortune if they would’ve done things differently.
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1.This is not fate
His father simply wants to know what Jay was doing that caused the accident.
2. This is Fate in Kay’s eyes.
She believes that she got in a car accident to stop her from drinking and driving for a reason.
However
In someone else’s eyes it may not be fate. Someone may say this happened solely because you were drinking and driving not to prove a point to you.
3.This is Fate.
To Jay he believes god has a set plan for you and whatever happens was meant to happen and you can’t control it no matter what.
4. You could look at this either way.
Fate.
He could mean that his son got in an accident to lead them to where they are now being rich and prosperous
Not Fate.
That what you put in is what you get out. Their hard work allowed them to be successful.
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1. Zed is not referring to fate. Jay’s father wants to know the reason his son got into an accident.
2. Kay is referring to fate because she believes that the car crash helped her realize how dangerous her drinking habits are.
3. Jay does believe in fate because he believes that everything happens according to Gods will, and that nothing he can do will change that.
4. Dee doesn’t believe in fate because she believes that her hard work and “years of labor” are what lead to her success not “good luck”.
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1. Not fate – Zed says “Everything happens for a reason” because he believes their was a reason his son got into an accident, he doesn’t believe it happened because of fate.
2. Fate – Kay believes the accident was fate; it was a wake up call for her, just what she needed.
3. Fate – Jay believes in fate. He thinks whatever happens in life is God’s will, and that way he uses the phrase “everything happens for a reason” shows he thinks the accident was meant to be.
4. Not fate – Zed believes their success was a result of good fortune, but Dee thinks their organization was successful because of their dedication to it.
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Sorry I did not post sooner Professor Hodges, but I feel as though better late than never applies nicely here.
1. This is not fate
Zed, Jay’s father, wants to know what happened. He wants to know how the accident was caused and what Jay had been doing.
2. This is fate
The fact that Kay lost her daughter when she had been drunk driving shows that something or someone (fate) was telling her that she needs to stop driving drunk. Of course losing her daughter is a terrible way to learn her lesson, people usually learn from pain.
3. This is not fate
I do not believe that this example is an example of fate. I simply see this as an example of good luck. Jay needs to learn that he can’t keep being reckless as it can have a significant impact on his life. Even though God may be with him, trying to help him with his problem, this specific example is not fate.
4. This is not fate
Dee worked very hard in order to accomplish the goals she did, taking great determination and use of her God given talents. She did whatever it took in order to succeed, fulfilling the phrase, hard work pays off.
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These are my opinions on the questions asked:
—Which of these declarations are expressions of a belief in fate?
—Which are not?
—How do the expressions of fate differ?
1. Zed doesn’t believe in fate. He just wants his son to explain how the accident happened. What caused the accident? is his question.
2. Kay believes in fate now that she feels she has benefited from it. What she really means is: we suffer so that we can achieve something from our adversity, a common formula for a belief in fate that preserves hope for desperate people.
3. Jay believes in fate if that’s what we call the belief that God has set a sequence in motion that we are powerless to resist. If his belief in God includes a belief in hell, Jay must also believe that some people—perhaps even Jay himself—are fated to end in damnation.
4. Dee doesn’t believe in fate. She attributes her success to her hard work, talent, and determination. When Zed toasts good luck, she has to object: this wasn’t luck. If they had failed, she might have blamed bad luck though.
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1. Not a belief in fate. “Explanation”-Want to know how specifically the accident occurred.
2. Belief in fate. “Kay reconnects with her life and family and resolves to quit her irresponsible behavior.” Thinks accident happened in order to play a significant role in her life.
3. Belief in fate. Predestination. “…believes that whatever occurs in his life is God’s will, over which he has no control and for which he has no responsibility.” Thinks God made it happen just like how he controls everything else that happens. It’s all part of His plan. Frees himself from guilt.
4. Not a belief in fate. Similar to 2, in that what happened was meaningful and acted as a spark, but it wasn’t good fortune; they worked to get where they are.
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It is both fate and cause and effect as fate is the result of cause an effect. Life is a series of step stones and we chose the path between them.
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The 1st, 2nd, and 4th declarations are good examples of a belief in fate, as each discusses events which directly resulted from the actions of the people involved and causes them to rethink their life choices to make up for their actions. In the 1st declaration, Zed asks Jay for an explanation of why he had to come bail him out of jail for his recklessness. In the 2nd declaration, Kay is deeply ashamed by her irresponsible behavior of having been drinking heavily while driving her daughter home, and resolves to quit her irresponsible behavior. Zed regrets having raised a son as irresponsible as Jay and resolves to do better with his daughter, Dee, who helps him to form an organization called Teens at the Scene.
The 3rd declaration is not an expression of a belief in fate, but rather a belief in destiny. Jay realizes the consequences of his actions, yet he does not change at all. Instead he believes that whatever happens in his life is the will of God and that he is not responsible for anything that happens.
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1.This is not an expression of fate because the way “Everything happens for a reason” is used does not mean that there is some unforeseen circumstance that caused this. The way it is used means that Zed expects an explanation for why it happened and not that there was no way to avoid it.
2.This use of the saying could be considered fate because Kay uses it to express that even though something tragic occurred, it brought change within her life to make her a better person. She uses it in the context that even if something bad happened, fate made it happen to help Kay become a better person.
3. The way Jay uses the sentence is not considered fate. He uses it to describe Determinism, where everything that happens was made to happen because of genetics and what happened in the recent and distant past.
4. The way Dee uses the phrase can be considered fate because it uses part of the idea from number 2. Even though a bad situation happened, they created a better situation out of it. This allows them to believe that negative actions happen for a reason to create positive effects afterward.
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1) Not about Fate
The reason for the accident was Jay’s recklessness.
2) Not about Fate
This did not happened because of fate and to comfort her friends about her condition she says it anyway since she made it out of the accident alive.
3) About Fate
Jay believes the accident was partly God’s work. If it wasn’t ment to happen then it wouldn’t have even though Kay was intoxicated. Implying that maybe his recklessness that cause the accident may have been what God wanted.
4) About Fate
Dee is comforting her father about how he feels he raised his son. She says it to let him know he didn’t do a bad job raising his son and that it was ment to happen whether he did the best job in the world in raising him or not.
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I think that the third paragraph is the only one that is focused on the idea of fate. The rest of them seem to simply tack on the statement, “everything happens for a reason.” Paragraph one uses the statement to almost excuse Jay of reckless behavior as to say that there is a lesson to be learned here or something along those lines. In the second paragraph, Kay uses the statement as to make the accident out to be a warning for her to change her ways and avoid drinking or careless behavior. The third paragraph discusses fate because of the similarities between a master plan employed by god and fate, that regardless of what a person does, they were meant to do that from the beginning. In the final paragraph, Dee’s use of the statement provides a ground for her dad, Zed, who seems to have become caught up in wealth and well-being. The use of the statement here is used to tell Zed that their wealth and prosperity is simply a means to expand their efforts and get their message out further.
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I believe that the second, and the fourth paragraphs represents the idea of fate. “Everything happens for a reason” other wise known as fate, in the second paragraph was apparent because the events that occurred made Kay stop with her immature behavior, and stopped drinking. The fourth paragraph explained fate, by the way Zeds son acted, it made him realize that teenagers need to have more awareness of driving. Which made him and his daughter start an awareness organization.
The first paragraph personally didn’t represet fate. It explained the events that lead up to it being fate. Yes jay got into a terrible accident, and in result of it harmed two people. But it doesn’t explain the cause and effect. The third paragraph represent that he felt bad, again no cause and effect,
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1. When Zed asks his son what caused the accident and states, “Everything happens for a reason,” he is not talking about fate. It would seem that he actually wants to know what the reason is.
2. I feel that Kay, while laying in pain in her hospital bed says “Everything happens for a reason.” I think Kay is saying that her reason to stop drinking is because of her horrible accident.
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Number 1, 2, and 4 are good examples of fate because it makes it seem like the accident leads their lives in another direction for a good reason. Number 3 is an example of destiny, not fate, which are two different things, because Jay believes that he has no control over what happens to him in his life, and that it’s all up to God. Jay does not change his behavior, because he believes that God has already written out his future and everything is predestined to happen. He also believes that he has no responsibility over what he did and it was all God’s doing.
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Of the four declarations the only expression in the belief in fate is the third. In the first, second and fourth declaration “Everything happens for a reason” the reason for all of those things happening are very clear. In the first the Jay was driving recklessly while Kay was under the influence behind the wheel, this is the perfect recipe for an accident. In the second Kay decides to reevaluates her life because she caused the death of her child. Losing her child being the reason that the reevaluation happened. And in the fourth had Zed not felt that he failed at raising Jay he would have not felt the need to start his successful organization. The only example of a belief in fate was the third and in this Jay uses fate as a way to avoid accepting responsibility for his actions because according to fate even if he had been driving safely and the other driver had been sober it would still have happened.
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Bukowski
1. This is not fate this is cause and effect. Everything happens because something caused it to happen
2. This is not fate this is the silver lining in a tragedy that betters an individual. While it seems that it happend for the reason to bring Kay back to her family and better decision making, it was actually Kay’s change in herself that bettered her life.
3. This is fate. This is the belief of a set destiny and an unchangeable future. There is no change in action only the change in belief coupled with the acceptance of an unchangeable future
4. This is fate. The daughter Dee believed that they were destined to rise to good fortune from the path of helping others
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1. Is fate because Jay didn’t die. His car barely got ruined and he didn’t kill Kay. Jay killed Kay’s daughter which is horrible but its fate because they all could have died but Jay and Kay were both spared.
2. Is fate because she drove drunk. There is nothing she could have to done to save her child, so because of fate she still alive and was able to reconnect with her family.
3. Is not fate because he finally realizes that events in life just happen, this example in #3 isn’t an example of fate but it is an example of the events that occur in a lifetime, such as a moving event changing the way Jay thinks.
4. Is not fate because an event changed the way Jay and his father think so they started an organization and became good people along with having alot of money.
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I believe Kay’s declaration was an expression of belief, as well as Dee’s. Jay’s, I think, are not. Kay’s and Dee’s were expressions of fate because they brought on change, or resulted from change. Jay’s seemed like an excuse to make himself feel better about the situation, but it can be argued that going with the flow is fate itself, letting god take control of everything.
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The question of which of these paragraphs relate to the term “fate” is subjective as to what usage of the word fate the asker is referring to. Should one google the word “fate” he would get two definitions of the word, one as a noun and one as a verb.
The former states:
“The development of events beyond a person’s control, regarded as determined by a supernatural power.” (n)
The later states:
“Be destined to happen, turn out, or act in a particular way.” (v)
Therefore, paragraphs one, two, and four relate to the definition of fate as a verb since they simply offer a potential excuse or reason for past or future behavior, whereas paragraph 3 relates to the definition of fate as a noun since it introduces the non-human element.
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I think everything happens for a reason but I definitely think Jay could have avoided the traffic accident. I think it was definitely fate for the mother and daughter because it caused the mother to face her problems which she may not have done without having been in a car accident. I think Jay could have learned from his experience and change his reckless attitude so fate didn’t really play in his favor. I think the disappointment Jay’s father has in him is definitely fate because it led to the creation of Teens at the Scene.
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I believe the ones that are an expression of belief of Fate are the second and third one. They both have an understanding that whatever happens can’t be stopped. However the expressions differ because one is an epiphany of acceptance and another is an epiphany go guilt. Because you were in the wrong you’re are going to change is kay’s epiphany. Even though you weren’t in the wrong you have an history of irresponsibleness, so you can’t fight what is said; all you can do is accept it: Jay’s epiphany.
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My opinion of fate differs from that of my classmates. I was always taught that the definition of fate is that everything that happens in life is predetermined. By this definition, none of the characters in the riddle have a belief in fate. All of the characters do however claim everything happens for a reason. The differing views of “everything happens for a reason” come from different high and low points in life and can express the acknowledgment that change is around the corner or that success has come from hard work.
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Number 2 is an expression of fate because if the accident did not happen, Kay may have been in a more serious alcohol related accident that may have killed her. Number 3 expresses fate because something bad needed to happen in order to learn from mistakes and prevent oneself from making the same error again. Number 4 is also an expression of fate because the accident led up to raising awareness which may help many people down the road. Number 1 is not fate because nothing came from the outcome of Jay’s driving. The driver of the other vehicle was intoxicated.
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Believe* haha
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1. Fate
2. Fate
3. Fate
4. Fate
They all belief in fate.
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Declarations two and four are expressions of belief in fate. These two declarations have something good come out of something bad. They claim that the bad thing that happened to them was to change them for the better. The other two declarations are using “fate” as an excuse for something bad they have done. Nothing good comes out of paragraphs one and three.
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Paragraph 3 expresses belief in my eyes. Paragraphs 1, 2, and 4 do not. Fate differs in many ways; negatively, positively, or emotionally to name a few.
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