"Libra"

Paper Summary:

This paper analyzes the use of fate, coincidence, and accident in "Libra" as these topics serve to reinforce the book's titular concern with astrology, as well as the affinity that the concept of astrologically-determined fate and conspiracy theories have with each other. It traces the references to fate, coincidence, and conspiracy in the novel, ultimately finding Oswald's sun sign, Libra, to be the generator of the events of the novel.

From the Paper:

"Libra tells the story of the life and death of Lee Oswald, and the conspiracy to assassinate John F Kennedy. Oswald's life is out of control, constantly pushed and pulled in different directions by those around him. The chaos of Oswald's life and mind are explored throughout the novel, and his character is predictably weak-willed and mercurial. Less predictable, however, is the fact that the seemingly well-organized plot to kill the president is equally out of control, equally subject to the machinations of some greater exterior force. In admitting the chaos of Oswald and his life into their plot, the conspirators subject themselves to the forces of coincidence that this chaos facilitates and allow a greater outside force to manifest itself through him."

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