“Nothing is accidental”

“Nothing is accidental” is an expression used to turn a defense of natural hierarchy into an apparent principle of universal order. In Washington Black’s encounter with an unnamed man, it is not a neutral observation about nature: the speaker uses it to argue that some beings exist in the service of others, and that their agency can therefore be denied.

The Expression in Context

The man frames his argument as a question about whether it is natural to sever supposedly “low beings” from their “natural-born purpose” and give them a false sense of agency. He compares their assigned service to the existence of cows for eating, then turns a glass in his hands as he introduces the claim that nothing in nature is accidental. The gesture accompanies an argument that treats domination not as a human choice, but as part of the order of things.

Appeal to Aristotle

The speaker identifies Aristotle as the source and expands the phrase into the assertion that everything exists for the sake of something else. The appeal to a classical authority gives his hierarchy an air of intellectual legitimacy. Yet the quotation’s function in the conversation is to naturalize a social arrangement: if each creature has a predetermined purpose, then those placed beneath others can be described as fulfilling their proper role when they serve them.

Washington Black’s Response

Washington Black answers with a bitter smile. He understands that he should conceal his contempt, but judges the man ridiculous and fraudulent for memorizing Greek quotations in order to distort their meaning. The moment makes the expression’s ideological work visible: the authoritative maxim does not establish that subordination is natural; it is being used to make that conclusion seem self-evident. When the man asks whether he amuses Washington Black, Washington Black has already betrayed no alarm or fear, even as the sight of the speaker’s clear, placid eyes makes his stomach plummet.

Significance

The expression compresses the speaker’s defense of hierarchy into a maxim that sounds broader and more inevitable than the particular relations it supports. Its apparent universality conceals a partisan conclusion: that some people are born to serve others. Washington Black’s contempt exposes the gap between the authority of the classical reference and the violence of the argument built upon it.