Fate and Free Will

Characters seem caught in predetermined courses—Billy's tragic end, Bartleby's mysterious decline—raising questions about whether their fates are the result of their own choices or of inexorable forces beyond their control, such as social systems or inherent nature.

The tortoises' 'self-condemned' appearance and the superstition of wicked officers being transformed suggest a fate imposed by past actions, while the islands' unchanging nature implies a predetermined doom.

Hunilla's survival and rescue are portrayed as a narrow chance, with a mysterious presentiment guiding her to the ship just in time.

The uncle's struggle against the 'universal current into oblivion' and his eventual acceptance of failure explore the interplay between human effort and inevitable fate.

The narrator asserts his free will and trust in divine providence ('the hairs of our heads are numbered'), rejecting the salesman's deterministic fear of lightning.