# Fate and Inevitability in Little Caesar

> Theme guide for Little Caesar by W. R. Burnett.

The novel's epigraph from Machiavelli and the characters' frequent reflections on luck and doom suggest a fatalistic worldview, where past actions and the criminal life lead inexorably to ruin.

## Where it surfaces

- [Epigraph](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/chapters/epigraph): Machiavelli's assertion of a 'first law' of self-preservation suggests an inexorable natural order, hinting at the fatalistic trajectory of the characters.
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/chapters/part-i-iii): Seal Skin's prediction that Rico will be killed ('They get 'em all') underscores a fatalistic view of the gangster's life.
- [IV](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/chapters/part-i-iv): Tony's mother's warning that his association with crooks will lead to trouble foreshadows his eventual fate.
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/chapters/part-vi-v): Sam's lethargy and refusal to flee, despite Scabby's urging, suggest an acceptance of his inevitable downfall.
- [VI](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/chapters/part-vi-vi): Rico's realization that his rise is over and he is now a hunted man underscores the inescapable consequences of his criminal life.
- [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/chapters/part-vii-iii): Rico reflects on his rise and fall, seeing the robbery of Casa Alvarado as both making and breaking him, and accepts Sam Vettori's fate as inevitable.
- [V](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/chapters/part-vii-v): Rico's return to Toledo and his sense of being trapped reflect the inescapable consequences of his past actions.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/themes/fate_and_inevitability
- Themes index: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/little_caesar_se/themes