The Arrow of Gold · Theme
Fate and Chance
How The Arrow of Gold develops Fate and Chance.
Events unfold with a sense of inevitability and 'punctualness,' as if driven by fate, yet chance encounters and accidents—like the meeting in the café—set the entire adventure in motion.
Where it surfaces
- First Note
The narrator's recruitment is presented as a matter of chance and the contact of two minds, highlighting the role of fate in his adventure.
- I
The narrator's chance meeting with Mills and Captain Blunt in the café, and the decision to go to Blunt's rooms, feels like a significant, perhaps fated, turn in his life, marking the end of a previous existence.
- II
The narrator reflects on the idea of fatality embodied in people like Blunt and Therese, and the role of chance in Rita's life.
- IV
The narrator's encounter with Doña Rita and the decision to join the enterprise feel like a turning point, with elements of chance and destiny.
- III
The narrator's escape from ambushes and the final shipwreck highlight the role of chance and fate in his fortunes.
- Chapter VI
The unexpected arrival of Ortega and the ensuing chaos suggest the role of chance and fate in the characters' lives.