Coincidence
Yet I haven’t been idle (thought Wokulski): I struggled for three men, and had I not been helped by chance I wouldn’t even have the fortune I now possess. (415)
The novel demonstrates how Janus-faced character of coincidence chance. We can consider it an irrational, chaotic impulse that drives reality, but it can also be seen as a way for some order – usually inaccessible to man, apparent only in moments of reflection – to reveal itself in an epiphany.
In essence, chance is contradictory. It should, however, be emphasised that The Doll is one of the first Polish novels in which contradiction is consistently construed as a figure of meaning. Chance is the main determinant of the main character’s fate: it is by accident that Wokulski meets Izabela Łęcka in the theatre, and that fact irrevocably changes his life. From that point onwards, the dynamics of his biography is defined by the rhythm of delight and disappointment in the beloved, who is highly idealised in his imagination. It could be said that chance leads Wokulski to meet a person who embodies his every desire, conscious and unconscious. The meeting of the two might then be seen as Wokulski’s fate, his doom or curse – but can also be interpreted as a fortunate event. Chance makes Wokulski shape Marianna’s life by sending her to stay with the Magdalene nuns. The experience of chance would encourage us, then, to conjecture that we are not in control of our choices, fate or destiny.
