Luck and Circumstance

Easily the central question in this book is how to think about luck. The lives of the Pickles and Lamb families are regularly afflicted by sad circumstances over which they have little control, but they also make their own luck, both good and bad. Some of the family members let life happen to them, neither questioning nor trying to change whatever comes. Sam Pickles is the foremost example of this poor attitude toward the unpredictability of life. An inveterate gambler, he keeps betting even when he is convinced he will lose, never considering it might be better to stop. His wife, Dolly, is another example of a person who allows to herself to be controlled by her darker instincts. She drinks excessively and has unsatisfactory affairs, both of which activities do great damage to herself and her family, yet she does not try to change. Rose...