How The Death Has An Appointment In Samarra Compares To The Story Of Oedipus

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How the "Death Has an Appointment in Samarra" compares to the story of Oedipus.
Human fate is inescapable and it is often illustrated in various literary pieces. An example of such literary pieces is the story of Oedipus in Greek mythology and ‘Death Has an Appointment in Samarra’ based on a time setting in Bagdad. The authors of these two literary pieces describe tragic fates of two people who had known their fate but desperately attempted to avoid it. Every decision, move or action they attempted edged them closer to their destiny. The themes illustrated in these two stories show how humans are unable to alter the course of fate. The purpose of this essay is to discuss how the two stories assert that humans cannot control their fate and the themes featured in the stories.
Death Has an Appointment in Samarra is a story that has various versions but they all revolve against a person who attempted escape Death literally CITATION Cas17 \l 1033 (Castiel). When he meets death in the market place and it gestures to him, he perceives it as a bad omen and rushes to see his master. When he explains the ordeal to his master and requests for a horse to flee to Samarra, and the kind master steps in to help him escape death. When the merchant ((servant owner) meets Death later in the day, he questions death why it was rude to his servant. Death answers, ‘that was not a threatening gesture, I said, it was only a start of surprise. I was astonished to see him in Bagdad, for I had an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”
Before Oedipus was born, an oracle predicted his fate and the king, Laius and the queen Jocasta deliberated that he was to be killed after birth. When Oedipus was born, he was to be left for the dead in the forest where he was rescued by a shepherd who took him to the king of Corinth where he was raised. One day, a seer narrated his fate to Oedipus, and saddened by his fate, leaves Corinth. On the way, an unbeknownst to him, he meets his father and kills him. In Thebe, no one knew exactly who had killed the king. Oedipus later inherits his father’s kingdom unknowingly and marries his mother with whom they have children. Later, he learns about his fate which leads to his mother committing suicide. He stabs his eyes and he mourns the death of his parents whilst awaiting his cursed fate. He meets his unfortunate fate in the most bizarre manner he never imagined.
The man described in Death Has an Appointment in Samarra is likened to Oedipus who attempted to escape his fate by all ways possible. Unfortunately, their plans to avoid their destiny ends up leading them to the very s...