Empire Falls Destiny Essay

To be a person is to be an entangled mass of sometimes contradictory hopes, drives and values. These forces originate from their surroundings and the kind of community they are in. Whether or not these forces can be overcome, depends entirely on the person, and the decisions they make. The value of great literature is that it conveys what it is to be human. In the novel Empire Falls by Richard Russo, voluminous amount of characters are portrayed to have an inevitable fate for various reasons. These characters are driven by different forces that they think they either can or cannot control them. Each character has a different method of how to approach these impulses that are shaping his or her destiny. Two characters that exemplify this conflict are Mile Roby, the main character, and C.B Whiting, the heir of the rich and powerful Whiting’s.
Miles Roby is a man of many conflicts. Miles wishes to break out the trap Mrs. Whiting has built for him; however, his inherent goodness prevents him from doing so. Throughout the novel, Miles lives the life he believes his mother would have him live. It is almost as if she has predestined Miles to a life of mundane toil, via Mrs. Whiting’s cynical manipulations. Miles is essentially indentured to Mrs. Whiting, who paid for his three years in college, then extorted him to stay on as manager of the Empire Grills in exchange for the money to pay mounting medical bills as his mother is dying. At first, it seems to be a destiny that Miles cannot avoid, but later Miles takes action and his chances of escaping this destiny increased. He breaks the Silver Fox’s arm and starts a fight with Jimmy Minty, which is a big step for him since he is usually a loving and forgiving person. When two state inspectors showed up at Callahan's and closed the place down for health code violations, Miles was notified about this situation and was enraged. Miles decided to confront Mrs. Whiting. The purpose of these actions by Miles was to deviate from...