Adjustment Bureau Essay

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Adjustment Bureau The concept of free will is often described as “the power to make choices and engage in actions that originate with ourselves” (Williams 1). The film, Adjustment Bureau, allows us to see free will in two different perspectives: First from the side of the main character David as he sets out to change his own destiny, and second those of the bureau trying to maintain order within the set plan. In this movie the people’s lives are already preplanned by the hand of the chairman, and are carried out by the case workers of the bureau. They believe the destiny of all humans is preordained, which favors biological determinism which states “our genes have mapped out a course for us, and we follow that course accordingly. The choices we make, in a sense, have already been made by the genetic instructions that define and dictate who we are and what we do” So the bureau is the planned out course as a way of life for all human beings in this film. (Williams 1). Throughout the film you’ll come to understand that humans really do have free will. In the scene when David enters his office and finds the case officers tampering with his colleagues brains, they are doing that in order to change their minds about something. Here we have the classic illustration of soft-determinism. The bureau changes your own actions, so in the beginning they were your own thoughts and choices, but if they weren’t according to their plan they would constantly tweak your destinies’ to ensure that you arrive at your predetermined destination. The bureau is acting as the “degree of influence” where free will is constrained to follow one specific plan, their plan, but free will and the freedom to make choices Is present just constrained by outliers seeking one chosen destiny for you (Williams 1). David is fighting for the woman he loves and is convinced that there is a way to make

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