Fate, Free Will, The Matrix, Invictus & Esperanza

                           “I want to be

                           like the waves on the sea,

                           like the clouds in the wind,

                           but I’m me.

                           One day I’ll jump

                           out of my skin.

                           I’ll shake the sky

                           like a hundred violins.”

                           —Esperanza, The House on Mango Street

In yesterday’s class discussion, we looked at a few chapters from The House on Mango Street that examined the idea of free will versus fate. We talked about what each idea—free will and fate/destiny—meant and whether or not you believe in one or the other. Remember, free will says that an individual has control over their life—the choices one makes directly contribute to one’s life outcomes. Fate, on the other hand, puts less emphasis on individual control and more emphasis on the idea that our life outcomes are already determined. We talked about how the movies like Boyz n the Hood and The Matrix comment on the relationship between Free Will and Fate.

We also discussed some philosophies of Realist and Naturalist authors—ones that appropriated some of Charles Darwin’s ideas about evolution, natural selection and ‘survival of the fittest’ and applied them to society. Remember, Darwin said that in nature living things cannot control their environments, they can only adapt to it. Darwin says that because environmental factors are out of the control of living things, those that don’t adapt will die. In the early 20^th century, sociologists and authors began to examine human societies and communities in the same manner. They looked at our social environment the same way Darwin looked at natural environments, saying that our social environments have certain factors that are out of our control that determine our life outcomes—fate.

This idea really becomes obvious if you look at race in American history. African Americans, by virtue of their skin color (a factor out of anyone’s control), have historically been oppressed through slavery and Jim Crow in our society, creating an environment that seemingly predetermined the fate of many African Americans (and therefore whites, too). Authors in the early 20^th century looked at race and class in the United States and felt that the poor and people of color were ‘competing’ to survive on an unlevel playing field, that their environments were outside of their control and therefore they had no free will. A lot of these authors were at odds with the American dream.

I think some of these ideas unknowingly factor into Esperanza’s view of her own neighborhood. She is constantly telling stories of the people around her trying to break free through different means, all of them failing thus far. Esperanza even compares herself to a red balloon tied to an anchor, indicating that she also feels tied to a certain fate or destiny. Do you agree with Esperanza and some of the naturalist/realist authors? Are there things in our environments out of our control that determine our fate (race, wealth, education, family, etc.)? Or do we always have control of our fate? Or does fate and free will depend on where you are from? Compare Esperanza’s poem she wrote for her aunt (above) with the poem “Invictus” by William Henley:

                           Out of the night that covers me,


                           Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

                           I thank whatever gods may be

                           For my unconquerable soul.

                           In the fell clutch of circumstance

                           I have not winced nor cried aloud.

                           Under the bludgeonings of chance

                           My head is bloody, but unbowed.


                           Beyond this place of wrath and tears

                           Looms but the Horror of the shade,

                           And yet the menace of the years

                           Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.


                           It matters not how strait the gate,

                           How charged with punishments the scroll.

                           I am the master of my fate:

                           I am the captain of my soul.

Do you tend to agree with one poem more than the other? I think both are empowering in their own separate ways. And I also like the idea of Henley’s poem, the fact that we are captains of our souls. But I also acknowledge that sometimes it feels like our fate or destiny is out of our control, that there are other factors beyond our good intentions and choices that will determine our fate—things we cannot ‘captain.’ And for that, I see what Esperanza means when she says “but I’m me.” Her race, her education, her neighborhood, her family, her wealth, her gender are things that are Esperanza; they are the things she is referring to when she says “but I’m me.” They are also things out of her control that are ‘tying’ her down. 

So it would seem that Esperanza and people like her are without free will. And I think it's out of this feeling of powerlessness that many people in minority communities turn to apathy, violence and crime. After all, if the decisions we make don't truly make a difference, why bother? While I think this mindset is self-defeating and perpetuates problems and I while I hardly accept this 'excuse,' I can also understand it and realize that we have to do more to support all of our communities and show people that with perseverance, we can be the masters of our fates. People in power need to lead by example and with respect. And in many ways, I wonder if we haven't sold people like Esperanza short in that regard. It reminds of dialogue from the movie Se7en:

Somerset: I just don't think I can continue to 
live in a place that embraces and nurtures apathy as if it were a virtue.
Mills: You're no different. You're no better.
Somerset: I didn't say I was different or better. I'm not. Hell, I sympathize—I sympathize completely. Apathy is the solution. I mean, it's easier to lose yourself in drugs than it is to cope with life. It's easier to steal what you want than it is to earn it. It's easier to beat a child than it is to raise it. Hell, love costs. It takes work and effort.

I think Somerset's line here is incredibly apt; love costs and it takes work. Work and sacrifice not only from people like Esperanza, in the face unfavorable societal factors, and from the people whom society favors. Otherwise, I feel, we'll be having the same tired conversations for a long time.