William Saroyan（1908-1981）寫於二次大戰期間的小說人間喜劇The Human Comedy（1943）以美國加州小鎮為背景，敘述凡夫俗子在恐懼與死亡威脅下如何自處，「人各有命」即出自本書。

Homer騎腳踏車送電報給Rosa Sandoval太太，就像不曾接過電報的人一樣，Sandoval太太看到門外的信差Homer時嚇了一跳。她還以為是老友，很開心地要坐下準備好好聊聊呢！她打量著Homer的眼神，心中明白一定不是好消息，她說：「你送電報給誰啊？」「G街1129號Rosa Sandoval太太，是妳嗎？」「請進，我不會看英文，我是墨西哥人。」
She said" Oh," as if instead of a messenger she had thought of opening the door to someone she had known a long time and would be pleased to sit down with. Before she spoke again she studied Homer's eyes and Homer knew that she knew the message was not a welcome one. "You have a telegram" she said. "Who is it for" "Mrs. Rosa Sandoval, 1129 G Street," Homer said. "Are you Mrs. Sandoval" "Please," the woman said. "Please come in. I cannot read English. I am Mexican."

Homer雙手顫抖地拆開電報說：「戰爭部通知妳的兒子陣亡了。也許消息有誤，可能不是妳的兒子。」Sandoval太太裝作沒聽到，她說：「別害怕，進來，我拿糖給你吃，孩子都愛吃糖。」那是一種奇怪的糖，Homer拿了一顆放在嘴裡，「這是用仙人掌做的糖果，我的孩子從小就愛吃。我做好等他回來吃，來！再吃一個。你也像是我的孩子。」她嗚咽地哭了起來，Homer想起身跑走但他知道他不會這麼做，他甚至還想一直留下來。要怎麼辦才能安慰她呢？如果 Sandoval太太要他當做她的兒子，他也不會拒絕，因為他不忍心拒絕。他心裏不停地喊著：「我能做甚麼呢？我到底能做甚麼呢？我只不過是個信差而已。」
Homer wanted to get up and run but he knew he would stay. He even thought he might stay the rest of his life. He just didn't know what else to do to try to make the woman less unhappy, and if she had asked him to take the place of her son, he would not have been able to refuse, because he would not have known how. In his heart he was saying over and over again, "What can I do What the hell can I do I'm only the messenger."

Sandoval太太忽然抱住他說：「我的兒子啊！我的兒子啊！」Homer非常同情Sandoval太太，對戰爭帶來的一切，Homer感到一股強烈的憤慨，渾身像生了病一般想吐。為什麼人們要如此荒謬地承受痛苦和死亡呢？幾年前年輕美麗的Sandoval太太還凝視著睡在搖籃中的嬰兒，但是現在卻面對兒子的死訊。Homer騎上腳踏車，飛也似地騎過黑暗的街道，他流著眼淚，口中喃喃咒罵著。回到電報社時，他已不再哭泣，而開始繼續他該做的事。
He saw her back in time, a beautiful young woman sitting beside the crib of her infant son.  Now look at her, he said to himself. He was on his bicycle suddenly, riding swiftly down the dark street, tears coming out of his eyes and his mouth whispering young and crazy curses. When he got back to the telegraph office the tears had stopped, but everything else had started.