Change in Roman Fever by Edith Wharton Chance (or coincidence) has an ambiguous role in the outcome of different situations; it can work for or against you. As in real life, in literature chance has a considerable influence on the circumstances of the characters and where those circumstances lead. In two particular literary works, Roman Fever and A Small, Good Thing, random events have serious consequences on the lives of the characters involved. In Roman Fever, old friends meet by chance and reveal disturbing secrets about the past; while in A Small, Good Thing a boy is injured on his birthday putting his parents in a desperate situation. While the case generally seems to go unnoticed – the spontaneous purchase of candles, followed by a power outage – the impact it has is often not so subtle. Edith Wharton, author of Roman Fever, depicts two upper-class friends; one, Mrs. Slade, fiercely jealous of the other, and the other, Mrs. Ansley, pitying her childhood friend. The portrayal is real in that it embodies the upper-class American wife: responsibilities include making her husband happy and entertaining his guests; an atypical day may consist of shopping, lunch and exchanging rumors with the other wives of other rich husbands; essentially, time is wasted until the rich husband comes home from work or until he makes a request. Mrs. Slade, upon reflection, felt “a certain marital pride” in being such a wife (Wharton, 84). The most important aspect of such individuals presented by Wharton is the extent to which they will try to undermine even a supposed friend to achieve an end, generally the richer husband. And of course, with such game rules, it is necessary all... the mall... of paper, GoodThing, while its effects were tragic; it also had some positive implications. However, the same aspect of chance applies in both cases: although its effects rarely go unnoticed, its role in events almost always does. If it had been anticipatory, Alida would have considered the possibility of Grace replying to the letter and Ann dropping her son off at school that day. In fact, if the case were predictable, it would lose its very nature; its swaying strength would be useless and life would otherwise go on unperturbed. Works Cited Carver, Raymond. “A small, good thing.” A paperback anthology: third edition. R. S. Gwynn. New York: Longman, 2002. 304-326. "The case". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth ed. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000. www.atomica.com.Wharton, Edith. “Roman fever”. A paperback anthology: third ed. 81-93.