Many believe that a human's personality determines their place in life. In the Mayor of Casterbridge, Thomas Hardy explores the role of character in determining fate. He uses a character's personality flaws to determine their fate. Hardy utilizes such traits as temper, naivety, control problems, and shyness. Hardy takes his character and places them in a situation where their personalities usually make the situation worse. Throughout the novel the character, Lucetta, is portrayed as a …showed first 75 words of 977 total…

…showed last 75 words of 977 total…body; there be no mourners at his funeral; no flowers be planted at his grave; and that no one remember him. He thought he had a lot of sins to pay for when he asked all this. Hardy has taken common character traits and used them to determine the character's fate. Through the use of his characters, Hardy shows how someone can determine their own fate. Even though in most cases they don't know it.