d in marriage/cursed in the lives I cut down with these hands!”(347) Perhaps the most succinct statement of the attitude of resignation to fate and suffering is this simple statement by Tiresias: ”What will come, will come. / Even if I should shroud it all in silence.”(321) This expresses a notion of fated beginnings and fated endings.The view of fate the book of Job expresses, though similar in that it originates from God, differs in a few important ways. In Job, situations are predetermined to occur, but the personal choices of the people involved determine the outcome of the situation. The story of Job opens with Job’s fate of suffering being planned. Satan presents himself in an audience before God. God makes example of Job, and Satan rebuffs, stating that Job’s constancy is only because of God’s preferential treatment. Satan tells God, ”But put forth thy hand now and touch all he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.”(40). In response, power is given to Satan to torment Job as a test. Job’s life and finally health are viciously mangled and destroyed by Satan. Though Job does not know the reasons behind his great suffering, we are told that “In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.”(41), and “In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”(41). Self-pity creeps into Job’s thoughts and words, but there is no disenchanted turn from God. Instead in Job the reader sees a turn to God for relief and answers.In Job, the reader sees that the end of his situation is dependent upon his choice of whether or not to live a righteous life. Job follows the Lord’s commands after he has suffered long, “And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.”(58). This expresses a view quite opposite to the one found in Oedipus; a view of fated begin...
