In the story, Lemon Pie, how does the author present the theme of fate?

In Lemon Pie, the author suggests that destiny is arbitrary. While a hostage, the Professor constantly remembers the day he was taken by the communist rebels. He thinks of the “leftover lemon pie from the French bakery” and the other seemingly insignificant details of the morning (31). Although these details seem irrelevant to his capture, the Professor confesses that it’s “hard to know at what point [the morning] became What Happened” (33). In this way, the Professor implies that even the smallest of actions and decisions – for example, not putting away the lemon pie before going to work – seemingly determine one’s destiny.

Moreover, the Professor’s dream suggests that one’s destiny is not a fixed course, but instead is simply an accident. When the Professor dreams about the aliens coming to visit him, they show him “a world where he wakes up on time,” exploring ‘the depths of parallel universes” (52). In effect, the aliens show the Professor what his life could have been, had he not been captured by the rebels. In this way, the aliens complicate the story’s sense of destiny, suggesting that destiny is not a pre-determined path for one’s life. However, the Professor seems to prefer a world in which destiny is one pre-determined path, for he begs the aliens to stop showing him what his life could have been, saying “I don’t want to know” (52). Thus, the Professor demonstrates that, at times, believing in a pre-conceived destiny is preferable to accepting the arbitrariness of one’s life.