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Can we see to the end of the novel? As I'm reading my favorite books I become so involved with the characters that I don't want the story to end. Just because the book ends, and there are no more pages left to read does not mean that the story ends. In terms of Smith reading Howards End, the story was just beginning for her. I won't go so far as say that I will create a work like on beauty that really continues the story, but in my imagination i create a future for many characters in my favorite books. In biological evolution the story doesnt end either. The timelessness and in some way the inevitability of further adaptation and mutation ensure that this continuation. The more I think about the story of evolution the more brilliant it becomes and the more plausible. I think the teleological method of viewing life on earth is very heavily embedded in our culture and has led to a number of spin-off ideals like the hierarchy of races or genders. In this way, i find evolutionary theory, which branches instead of climbs, as very useful for thinking about equality between humans and further between species.

We can also find randomness in literature the way we can find randomness in our own lives. Ever wonder how you ended up where you are? I do nearly every day. The journey here has been quite random. As with writing a work of fiction or non-fiction (fact?) the factors that influence an author are random as well : birth into a certain society, parents and siblings, educational training, tripping on the sidewalk, even finding an old copy of howards end on a bookseller's blanket in central park and deciding to buy it for 50 cents because you need something to read on the train ride home. How these factors influence the writer are equally unpredictable. Not being able to see to the end is what makes me get up every morning.

Danielle