"Lottery of Babylon"

Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges spoke metaphorically about a world that is ruled by chances in life. Is this true? Can we really say that our entire lives are ruled by chances? Sure, we do things today that will affect our future, but we never really know what the result will be. We take a gamble today, in the hopes that the result will benefit us. Those in our lives take chances on us as well. Our companions befriend us in the hopes that we will be loyal to them and help them in their time of need. Our parents take a gamble on us as well when they invest their savings on us, and put us through school. Do they know if we will succeed in life or not? Of coarse not, but they choose to take that leap and hope for the best.

Hamlet himself took a gamble. If he really saw his fathers ghost or not we will never know (for it could have just been a figment of his imagination). However, he took a chance and chose to listen to this spirit and commit the deed it had thrown upon him. Though he had hoped for the best, we see that his gamble resulted in failure. In the end, not only did he himself die, but so did the entire royal family alongside with him.

Ophelia too took a chance in life. She committed herself to Hamlet, loving him and believing in him, hoping that he would remain by her side forever. However, despite all of the energy that she had put into her gamble ended in a loss. We see Hamlet abandon her and as a result, to escape the misery she is feeling, she commits suicide.

The chances that we take in life won't always end up the way we want them to. Each time we do something we put our lives on the line. The risk varies in degree each time, but we must keep in mind that it is always there non the less.