a "fatalist" would believe that whatever was gonna happen would happen, so why fight it.
That's exactly the point I was trying to make with the examples above. Clark thought things that were happening weren't going to end up in his favor, so he didn't try to fight them--whether that attitude was out of respect for other people's choices or not, it still seems fatalistic to me.
Eventually, if a person is constantly stepping aside for others, never even trying to change others' minds when he doesn't really WANT to step aside, then that person will eventually end up with all the things, situations, miracles, happiness, whatever that he wanted belonging/going to someone else.
There's a time to respectfully step aside, and then there's a time to fight for what you want. Clark doesn't seem to know which times to stand up, and which times to step aside--and he very willfully and almost decisively steps aside at that. That, to me, is a fatalist.
