Journal #16

“Determinisim governs everything … The writer must study the inherited traits of individual characterand the social condition of the time. Together, these elements determine the course of any action, the outcome of any life. Free will or self-determination is mostly an illusion, although chance is granteed a role in human affairs. Still, even the effects of chance are obliterated in the inevitable course determined by the interaction of inherited character traits and the social environment.“

This quote is pretty much saying that the events that occur in someone’s life all come down to their previous actions and chance/ free will. This applies to both the story that we read in class and the movie that we watched in very similar ways. It applied to the movie, because in the movie the Swede dies because of a combination of free will, bad judjment, and the enviorment it is it. His enviorment caused him to die because the blizzard was what lead him to the hotel. If it had not been snowing, chances are that he would of not entered the hotel, and he would still be alive. Also, if he would of left when he wanted to near the beginning, instead of drinking with the hotel owner, chances are he would of also lived. The bad judjemtn killed him because he should of left when he had the bad feeling about the place. Also because he should not of had so much to drink, therefore not getting drunk and assaulting the man. And Lastly, he died because of chance. This is because it was just unlucky that he chose that hotel, and that the man that killed him also chose that hotel to stay in. Also it was very unlucky that he just had conflicting personalities than the people who were there. Overall, the Swede’s death was just of comination of the enviorment and being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

This quote also applies to the story that we read in class because, just like the movie, the man died because of chance, poor judjment, and the enviorment he was in. He died of poor judgment because he should not of have been out in the cold alone in such freezing temperatures. Also he should not of have wondered so far from camp, so far in fact, that he would not be able to make it back in time before the sun went down. He died becase of chance because it was just unlucky that he fell through the ice and got wet and numb because of the water, and if he would had not of fallen through, he might have made if back in time. And lastly he died because of the enviorment he was in. If he had fallen into water in Florida, it would not of been a problem, but since he was in the harsh conditions of Alaska and it was seventy below, the water ended up killing him. Both men in both of the stoires died because of bad combination of chance, bad choices, and the enviorment they were put in.