Fate, Luck, and Egotism Theme Analysis

Cándido and Delaney are both very concerned with their place in the cosmos. They fixate on what the world “owes” them and they conceive of their lives in sometimes mythical terms. Both men, and Cándido in particular, express the idea that there is a mysterious logic governing the way the world operates, even as they find themselves cursing this logic—or, as Cándido calls it, his pinche (damned or rotten) luck. América and Kyra, by contrast, do not evince this belief; they seem more cool-headed and clear-eyed about their lots in life. The ironic tone with which Boyle writes about his characters’ belief in fate suggests that this belief is not only delusional—it is also an excuse people use to justify their otherwise unjustifiable actions or inaction.

Boyle uses irony to highlight his characters’ egotism and show that it is misguided to believe that one has any “special” relationship to the world. For example, as a nature writer, Delaney is convinced that “he [stands] apart from his fellow men and women, that he [sees] more deeply and [feels] more passionately—particularly about nature.” Boyle’s tone in this description is satirical, and the reality of Delaney’s life bears out the notion that he is kidding himself in believing he is a “pilgrim” who is somehow superior to his fellow humans. In fact, although Delaney does publish the articles he writes, it is not clear that he has a wide audience; the only evidence of readership the novel suggests is Delaney’s neighbors, who take offense at an article he writes about coyotes. Boyle even obliquely hints that Delaney might not actually have done all the hiking and adventuring that his written column suggests he has done; while this is never confirmed or refuted in the novel, Delaney’s narration of his solo camping experiences in the foothills makes it seem like these trips could be entirely imagined.

Cándido’s belief in his “special” place in the universe is similarly grandiose. Though Cándido has suffered far more in his life than Delaney has, Boyle nevertheless uses melodramatic language to show that Cándido is mentally exaggerating his suffering. Cándido insists that he has been “cursed ever since his mother died and his father brought that bitch Consuelo into the house and she gave the old man nine children he loved more than he’d ever loved his own firstborn son.” Here Boyle’s language shows that Cándido is not cursed so much as saddened by his father’s abandonment. Thinking that he has been cursed is merely a way for Cándido to avoiding confronting his feelings of abandonment and worthlessness. Cándido uses his belief in his pinche luck as an excuse to indulge in a defeatist attitude. The shame he feels contributes to his decision to beat América. Delaney, too, lets his belief in his “pilgrim” identity fuel the hatred by which he is consumed by the end of the novel; in a fit of frustration over Arroyo Blanco’s new wall, Delaney huffs at Kyra, “I need to be able to just walk out the door and be in the hills, in the wild—I don’t know if you noticed, but it’s what I do, it’s how I make my living.” Delaney ultimately blames the wall on Mexican immigrants like Cándido, and in turn comes to see Mexicans themselves as a challenge to his ability to manifest his “fate” as the “Pilgrim of Topanga Creek.” Thus, Boyle shows that the belief in fate often keeps people from coming to terms with their feelings or taking responsibility for their behavior.

It is significant that the female characters of the novel, América and Kyra, do not express any opinion of their luck or their fated roles in the universe. The belief in fate, which Boyle has clearly denoted as delusional, is ascribed solely to the male characters. Boyle thus seems to be implying that men are particularly susceptible to egotism, and by extension the delusional belief in fate. In doing so, he suggests that women are more rational and less self-centered in their understanding of the greater meaning of their own lives. On a broader scale, by casting aspersions on his characters’ belief in fate, Boyle is reinforcing the idea, which he presents elsewhere in the novel through the lens of other themes, that there is no inherent meaning or governing principle in the events that constitute a human being’s life.