Master of our domain. Does this statement hold true? I have often asked myself to what extent we humans control our destiny. Is it a illusion that we are born into, or do we really help shape the alignment of the stars? There is no real way of telling whether we can truly know the effects we have on another. How many of us have sneaked a bite of fruit from the grocery store when no one was looking? Did stealing that small bit really affect anyone? At first, one would think, "of course not, it's just one peice". Therefore, the question might be better suited for someone who believes in a higher power who sees and knows everything. Then, the person would be accountable for their actions.
Although this argument at first may be petty, there is an important lesson to be learned from all of this. It begs the question as to whether or not our actions have any cosmic influence. If one would take this a step further, they would find that even more questions begin to arise from such thinking; questions of pre-destination and free will. One argument would say that every person's life is "pre-destined" to live out specific purposes in order to achieve the proposed perfection of "fate". Free-will thinking on the other hand, believes that everything is in the control of the person living their life. That everything they do and what happens to them, is based upon their decisions in life.
Evidently, things happen to us in life that are out of our control and this would suggest that we are bound to the will of fate. Such an example would being struck by a car. Would any sane person in their right mind choose to be struck and either killed or maimed by such an incident? For me, life is a mixture of both understandings. For example, the person crossing that street had no intention of getting struck by a car, but by their free will, they chose to step out into the street. In that moment, both realities met, and as soon as the present became the past, "destiny" stepped into play. While at the same time, the person's and even God's intentions was to not step out there and get hit by a car. So while the will of both God and man might have been the same, the poor choice of that person caused them to get hit.
Bharati Mukherjee, author of Jasmine, tells the story of a woman who is born in India under the apparent oppressions of her society. Jasmine is also faced with the harsh reality of trying to understand the complexities of free will and destiny. For her, India has been a place of smothering repression on women as a whole, and particuarly, the individual rights of women. To Jasmine, it is this very essence of being valuable that gives meaning to the human life. It is by this equality and "agency" through which she determines the course of human history, or as some feminist's like to put, "herstory". Robert Burton, author of Artists of the Floating World writes, "The priority of an intellectual such as herself, she argues, is to 'unlearn' her privelage in order that she can help to give voice to those that have been muted by historical circumstances." (Burton, 81) In other words, it is the responsibility of a person to speak out, even if the circumstances are threatening or exclusive.
It is in this constant state of limbo that Jasmine's character is troubled by: free-will to change the world, and being caught up in the fate of the world. The tug-of-war becomes so intense inside of her that she literally thinks to herself, "I feel the tug of opposing forces. Hope and pain. Pain and Hope" (Mukherjee, 21) At this moment in the novel, Jasmine feels this dichotomy of forces aching for her attention. Part of her feels sorry for her physically handicapped lover, Bud, who drains the life out of her. While her pity for him is present, she also feels the deep longing for all of the fullness that life has to offer. In this place she feels stuck over her guilt of the situation and even guilt for feeling guilty. It would seem at any moment that Jasmine's desires will surface and her longing for a better life, a life respected as a woman and peer would carry her on, rather than having to carry the burden's of another.
5 comments on Freedestination and Pre-will
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Your introduction is catchy
thanks!
It is sometimes easy to forget that Jasmine is still very young when she makes the decision to be Bud's lover and partner. Most of us, when we make serious life decisions at a young age, end up finding out that who we are at 20 is no where near the person we will be at 30. Jasmine thought that Bud would give her what she thought she wanted at the moment..."dullness". But because she was still young, her yearning for something more in life couldn't be ignored. "Dullness" was not her destiny. She still wanted the opportunity to step in front of that bus if she wanted to. And so it goes for all of us.
cheribelle, that is so very true. good insight!