被誉为“世界三大小说巨匠”之一的美国作家欧•亨利，用十年左右的时间一共写了300多篇的短篇小说。1902年欧•亨利移居纽约，成为职业作家后创作出大量优秀的作品。其中，发表于1903年的《命运之路》可以作为欧•亨利创作爆发期的前奏。此外，欧•亨利在这一短篇中传达出了很深的宿命论的思想，很可能与自身短暂且充满不幸的一生有关。因此《命运之路》是一篇极具研究价值的短篇小说。本文详细分析了《命运之路》里的宿命论，在帮助读者清楚理解这一短篇的主题思想的同时，也希望为读者更好地解读欧•亨利的一生提供参考。 《命运之路》讲述了一心梦想着成为诗人的牧羊人大卫，走了三条截然不同的人生之路，却都终被现实打败以同样的死法离开人世。为了以清晰的条理和强有力的有说服力呈现出文章主题，本文主要分三大部分展开。第一部分分析了在三种选择的人生下牧羊人大卫身上呈现出的浪漫主义情怀；第二部分着眼于三种选择下残酷的现实；最后通过两者的冲突很自然地将宿命论这一主题引出。 被誉为“世界三大小说巨匠”之一的美国作家欧•亨利，用十年左右的时间一共写了300多篇的短篇小说。1902年欧•亨利移居纽约，成为职业作家后创作出大量优秀的作品。其中，发表于1903年的《命运之路》可以作为欧•亨利创作爆发期的前奏。此外，欧•亨利在这一短篇中传达出了很深的宿命论的思想，很可能与自身短暂且充满不幸的一生有关。因此《命运之路》是一篇极具研究价值的短篇小说。本文详细分析了《命运之路》里的宿命论，在帮助读者清楚理解这一短篇的主题思想的同时，也希望为读者更好地解读欧•亨利的一生提供参考。 《命运之路》讲述了一心梦想着成为诗人的牧羊人大卫，走了三条截然不同的人生之路，却都终被现实打败以同样的死法离开人世。为了以清晰的条理和强有力的有说服力呈现出文章主题，本文主要分三大部分展开。第一部分分析了在三种选择的人生下牧羊人大卫身上呈现出的浪漫主义情怀；第二部分着眼于三种选择下残酷的现实；最后通过两者的冲突很自然地将宿命论这一主题引出。

Praised as one of “the Three Greatest Short Story Writers in the World”, American writer O. Henry created more than 300 short stories in 10 years or so. Many of his excellent works were composed after 1902, when he moved to New York and began the life as a professional writer. Roads of Destiny, composed and published in 1903, can be seen as the prelude of the coming of his writing explosion period. Moreover, O. Henry conveys an obvious idea of fatalism in this short story, which may have close relation with his own short and miserable life experience. So Roads of Destiny is well worthy of a careful study. This thesis analyzes fatalism in Roads of Destiny to help readers understand the theme of the short story, and provide assistance for understanding O. Henry’s own life story. In Roads of Destiny, the hero was a shepherd named David. He dreamt to be a great poet and had the fancy chance to experience three different ways of life. But unfortunately, he died in the same way inside the three choices. In order to present the theme of Roads of Destiny clearly and convincingly, the analysis is mainly divided into three parts. First, the romance of David inside the three choices is analyzed respectively. And the second part focuses on the reality of the three choices. Finally, through the conflict between romance and reality, the theme fatalism that man should always obey and cannot defy his destiny is shown naturally.