The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell

“Life is either a collision of random events, like billiard balls during a break careening off and into one another, or if you are so inclined to believe, our predetermined fate [...]”

In a philosophical note before beginning his story, the narrator considers the role of fate in a person’s life. He has long ago rejected the Catholic faith of his mother, but he still longs to know life is not just a random series of events. The Foreword’s meditation on fate is inspired by Madeline’s insistence that Sam’s eyes are “God’s will”; Madeline’s words are therefore what launch the narrative, symbolizing her importance to not only to the protagonist but the whole story.

“[…] I wondered if entering this world with my eyes shut tight was a genetically predisposed instinct.”

The author uses foreshadowing in suggesting life might be painful for Sam. His genetic condition eventually leads to social alienation. The idea of eyes and vision becomes a motif in the narrative, relating to Sam’s complicated relationship with his physical eyes but also symbolically tying to the way he “sees” himself.

“My mother, of course, deemed my red eyes to be ‘God’s will.’”

The phrase “God’s will” becomes a recurrent incantation from Sam’s mother, who lives by the belief that God is in control of everything. However, it is a concept Sam struggles to understand and that he soon rejects; he cannot fathom that a benevolent God’s will would involve human suffering.