It is raining. An old man walks hurriedly towards a big tree to get a shelter. Thunder and lightning. Suddenly thunder strikes the tree. The tree fall down and hit the old man. Die.
For many people, what had happened above is a tragedy. However, for many scholars, it is not a tragedy, it is fatality. What's the difference between this two terms?
According to Aristotle, tragedy is (a drama) 'treating a serious subject and involoving persons to significance'. So, attending a serious course that makes you spent lots of money, time and energy, is it a tragedy?
Two main ingredients need to be considered when we want to label something as a trgedy. First, statement of human fallability. Fall, errors, mistakes. Being an immortal, we cannot escape from this situation. An example from Sophocles' Trilogy of Oedipus. The unlucky Oedipus tries to run away from his fate. However, everytime he tries to run away from it, he become closer to it. Second, reversal of fortune. Saddam Hussien is an example of a leader who was exile from his palace. Once he is a leader of Iraq, now he is a prisoner.
Anyway, it is not the end of the world. Fatality or tragedy, we still have to live this life. Tsunami at Acheh, typhoon Katrina at New Orleans. Fatality of tragedy? You determine it.
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