Theme of Fate

Fate motif in Gülseren Budayıcıoğlu’s novels and short stories appears not as an unchangeable fate but as a psychological foundation shaped by the individual’s childhood experiences. In his texts, fate is less a transcendent or metaphysical force than a tendency for early relational patterns and traumatic experiences to repeat themselves throughout life.

In Budayıcıoğlu’s narratives, characters frequently confront readers with the feeling that “I am always living the same things.” This sense of repetition lies at the heart of the conception of fate. Yet this fate is not random. Early experiences such as family relationships, parental attitudes, neglect, or excessive control lead characters to gravitate toward similar relationships later in life. The author approaches this cycle through a psychiatric lens, grounding the concept of fate in causality.

In his works, fate is often reinforced by unconscious choices. Characters do not believe they consciously select harmful relationships or life structures that end in failure. Nevertheless, they are drawn toward similar outcomes. At this point, Budayıcıoğlu’s texts present fate not as a sentence of guilt but as an internal programming that continues until it is recognized.

Another notable element in the author’s narratives is the delicate balance between fate and responsibility. Although characters refer to their circumstances as “written in stone,” the therapeutic process reveals where these inscriptions originated. Thus, fate becomes a phenomenon that can be questioned and partially transformed. This perspective generates both a comforting and a confronting effect in the reader.

Budayıcıoğlu’s understanding of fate does not exclude the idea of hope. On the contrary, it implies that change becomes possible once fate is recognized. Yet this transformation is neither easy nor swift. In his texts, change requires a painful process of confrontation and the individual’s reckoning with their inner world. In this sense, fate is portrayed not as an inevitable end but as a knot that must be untangled.

In conclusion, the motif of fate in Gülseren Budayıcıoğlu’s works is constructed through the concepts of psychological continuity and repetition. The conception of fate presented to the reader is not mystical but grounded in the invisible connections between a person’s past and present. This approach renders the author’s texts not only literary but also intellectually and psychologically powerful.