Weinreich has a bachelor's degree in English and has worked as a staff reporter for a daily newspaper. In this essay, Weinreich considers the universal theme of the conflict between fate and free will, as demonstrated in "The Good Shopkeeper," and how the American perspective, as exemplified by Ralph Waldo Emerson in his essay "Self-Reliance," provides insight into the protagonist Pramod.

"The Good Shopkeeper" considers the quandary every human faces: Does a person have control over his or her destiny (free will), or does some unseen force or fate control a person's life (fatalism)? Samrat Upadhyay chooses to examine this question by throwing his protagonist, Pramod, a blow that upends his world—he is fired from his job. For most readers, this is a concrete dilemma, one they can envision or perhaps have experienced. Along with Pramod's job goes his self-esteem, his position in the community, and...