Free Will versus Destiny

When I first read The Guest by Albert Camus I was struck by the main characters
struggle of what to do with his perceived free will. When I watched Terry Gilliams 12 Monkeys
I was struck by the mains characters complete lack of free will. When contemplating these
seemingly polar opposite ideas, I began to wonder how each one of us is shaped by our own
beliefs of the topic. Do we control our own fate? Or is every step we take, and action we do, all
leading us to one end which we were destined to succumb to? After analyzing 12 Monkeys
through the lens of The Guest, it becomes apparent to me that free will and destiny may not be
complete opposites at all, but instead two forces working off of each other.
Before the issue of free will versus destiny is really tackled, it is important to understand
the creators of both pieces of fiction being looked at. Then to try and interpret what their take on
the issue would be. Albert Camus was born in 1913 in Algeria, and recalls growing up in harsh
poverty. (NobelPrize.org) From an early age, his writing skills began to shine and would surely
take him many places in life. During war time Camus began to write in a newspaper challenging
ideas of Nazism amongst other political agendas. For Albert Camus his pen and paper would
always be his greatest tool.
The Guest was first published in 1957 as a part of a larger collection called Exile and the
Kingdom. As the story goes, the main character Daru is given a prisoner whom he has been told
is guilty of murder. Daru is then told that he must control this mans destiny and take him to
prison the following day. As soon as Daru is given his duty to turn the man in, he struggles with
how he should handle his situation. He disdains the idea of outside forces having control over his
life, and feels he is in no place to do the same to the prisoner. Throughout the night he tosses and
turns about his predicament, and often hopes that the prisoner will attempt to escape, relieving

Daru of his moral dilemma. At the end, Daru chooses not to interfere with the mans free will and
let him control his own destiny. He presents the prisoner with two options. Option one is the path
to the prison. Option two is the path to freedom. Daru opts to not interfere with the mans free
will, something Albert Camus fought for his whole life.
The director of the film I chose to view is Terry Gilliam. Terry Gilliam is well known for
many other works of film, including other dystopian movies like The Zero Theorem and Brazil.
Gilliam born in 1940 in Minneapolis Minnesota gained notoriety early in his career from the
popular comedy series Monty Pythons Flying Circus. Before any directing and writing, Gillam
grew up the son of a carpenter and described his childhood as being similar to that of Tom
Sawyer. Gilliam graduated from college in 1962 with a degree in political science. He went on
to work and write for magazines, write for childrens shows, and eventually made his name in
writing and directing movies. (Biography.com)
The film I choose to analyze is 12 Monkeys released in 1995, starring Bruce Willis, Brad
Pitt, and Madeline Stowe. In the year 2035 after a virus was released in 1997 five billion people
have died, and the remainder of the population is forced to live underground. James Cole (Bruce
Willis) is a prisoner in the society and is assigned volunteer work for which he must go above
ground and collect any kind of information that could be used to learn about the viruses origins.
After completing this work, and even doing a good job in the process, scientist tell James that
they have another more important project they have selected him for. If he accepts the
assignment he will receive a pardon and life will be better. The assignment turns out to be James
traveling back in time to try and gain more information about how the virus started. All the while
he is reminded that he cannot change what has already happened, but only give the scientist a
better understanding of the virus and help them find a cure.

In James first trip to the past he is sent too far back and ultimately ends up in a mental
institution, where he meets Jeffery Goines (Brad Pitt), a fellow mental patient, whose fathers
company turns out to be responsible for the virus. In their conversations with each other, James
ends up inspiring the idea to end the world. He is then called back to the present where he
explains he was sent back to the wrong time, and he is given another chance at time travel.
Finally he is sent back to the right time, where he kidnaps his former psychiatrist at the
mental institution Dr. Railly (Madeline Stowe). Eventually she sees his claims of being from the
future are true, and they begin to work together to try and stop the virus from being spread.
Throughout the movie James recalls a dream where he is a young boy, and watches a man shot
down at an airport followed by a screaming woman mourning the mans death. At the end of the
movie Dr. Railly and James decide to defy the destiny they know is coming and escape to the
Florida Keys. It is then at the airport where they discover the man who has the virus. When they
try and stop him James is shot down, as his younger self watches, and the virus goes on to be
spread, as destiny would have it.
In The Guest, Daru cannot stand the thought of taking another mans free will. In 12
Monkeys James Cole cannot accept the fact that he has no free will. Both main characters go
against the grain in what has been presented in front of them. However in reality, given their
respective situations they acted in the only way in which they themselves could have. When
James Cole and Dr. Railly decide to defy destiny they only cause the inevitable. It is this very
component of free will that allows destiny to run its course. A conceptual confusion might lie at
the heart of the free will controversy. Reconceptualizing the issue by positioning two
independent bipolar dimensions (determinism versus nondeterminism and self-determination
versus nonagentic mechanism), instead of the single free will versus determinism dimension,

seems to create the conceptual space for belief in both free will and determinism (Howard).
Albert Camus shows how free will and destiny build off each other with his character Daru,
when he presents the prisoner with the choice of going to freedom or going to prison. When he
returns back to his home he is given the message that he will pay for sending the prisoner to
justice. However his destiny would have been that of negative consequences no matter what
choice he made. His only choice ends up being who is going to show him the consequences, the
army, or the brothers of the prisoner. Just like how the characters in 12 Monkeys view the Florida
Keys as an escape from destiny, their free will allows destiny to become reality.

Works Cited
Frenz, Horst. "Albert Camus - Biographical." Albert Camus - Biographical. The Nobel
Foundation. Web. 04 May 2016.
HOWARD, GEORGE S. "Steps Toward a Science of Free Will." Counseling and Values. 37.3
(1993): 116-128. Print.
"Terry Gilliam." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 04 May 2016.