Doctor Zhivago (novel)
Coincidence and the unpredictability of reality
### Coincidence and the unpredictability of reality

In contrast to the [socialist realism](/wiki/Socialist_realism "Socialist realism") that was imposed as the official artistic style of the [Soviet Union](/wiki/Soviet_Union "Soviet Union"), Pasternak's novel relies heavily on unbelievable coincidences (a reliance for which the plot was criticized). Pasternak uses the frequently intersecting paths of his cast of characters not only to tell several different people's stories over the decades\-long course of the novel, but also to emphasize the chaotic, unpredictable nature of the time period in which it is set, and of reality more generally. In the end, immediately before his death, Zhivago has a revelation of "several existences developing side by side, moving next to each other at different speeds, and about one person's fate getting ahead of another's in life, and who outlives whom." This reflects the crisscrossing journeys of characters over decades, and represents the capricious chance governing their lives.


What is the nature of reality according to the novel?