The Teller of Small Fortunes

The tension between knowledge, responsibility, and fate permeates The Teller of Small Fortunes through Tao’s fortune-telling abilities. The novel questions whether foreknowledge empowers individuals to shape their futures or merely burdens them with inevitable outcomes they cannot alter. 

Tao restricts herself to reading “small fortunes” rather than exercising her greater vision that reveals significant life events. This self-imposed limitation originates from childhood trauma: At seven, she foresaw her father’s death but couldn’t prevent it, even though she warned her parents about her vision. Tao wonders “if [she] hadn’t seen what [she]’d seen, if [she] hadn’t told him[…]—might he have lived?” (113). Her mother, too, is haunted by the same idea, and Tao becomes traumatized by this uncertainty, wondering whether seeing the future inadvertently creates it. This is why she refuses to use her greater vision—she wants to avoid causing further harm.

The question of predetermined fate versus personal agency recurs throughout the narrative. Tao explains that small fortunes can be changed through preventative action. For instance, she says that “[i]f she tell[s] a man he might break a finger at the anvil, he could take greater care and maybe avoid it” (111). However, she believes greater visions reveal immutable destinies that “can’t be altered. All they can do is make you feel powerless to know what will come” (111). This distinction suggests a hierarchy where minor events remain subject to human will while significant outcomes follow fixed paths, regardless of intervention.

This philosophical debate intensifies during the travelers’ encounter with the nihilistic troll, who argues that “All Paths Are Predetermined, And Choice Does Not Exist” (126). This confrontation forces Tao to reconsider whether her abilities represent a curse or a gift, and if meaning can exist in a potentially predetermined world. Kina’s response to the troll offers a potential resolution to this tension; she says: “We can be nothing, and choose to be miserable about it […]—or we can be nothing, but choose to be happy, and let that be purpose enough” (128). Kina argues that while outcomes might be fixed, people’s responses to fate remains within their control. This philosophy helps Tao reconcile with her abilities.

When Tao finally employs her greater vision to assist Eshtera, she embraces both the responsibility and burden of foreknowledge. High Mage Melea provides a practical perspective on Tao’s power, saying, “If we know war will come, we can prepare” (259). This pragmatic approach suggests that even if outcomes remain unalterable, foreknowledge enables better preparation.

The fortune Tao sees about Mash finding his daughter offers the most hopeful perspective on fate. Though the vision shows only that Mash will find Leah, not when or how, it gives him the motivation to persevere. Their eventual reunion shows that though the outcome is foretold, the journey nevertheless requires human action and persistence. 

By the conclusion, Tao develops a nuanced understanding of her abilities. Rather than viewing her power as either burden or gift, she recognizes it as a complex responsibility that, used judiciously, can provide hope and preparation. She also comes to believe that while certain significant outcomes might be predetermined, the paths taken toward them and choices made along the way remain meaningful and within human control.