How I Live Now Part IV

***Spoilers Alert!*** As was mentioned in the last post, Daisy and Eddie were de facto married in the marital relations scene.

Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mirror_of_erised/9624599585/meta/

This will come into play for the comments below about Daisy's ending monologue.

Before the war, I used my will power for stupid stuff like not eating chocolate. I think I thought if I could control myself, then maybe the world around me would start to make sense. I guess I was pretty naive back then.

During the war we stopped looking for reasons why things happen. We don't know what happened to Eddie [in the war] -- what he saw, the things he had to do. ...

Now I use my will power to wait for you Eddie. To care for you. To love you. I have to believe that one day you're going to get better. It was like I said to you all that time ago. If the world doesn't end, I wanna be here ... at home ... with you. And that's how I live now.

She's wedded herself to Eddie. She now yearns for him.

It seems as though he is far off, but she is still caring for him like he is there. If it is correct that this movie can be seen as a Christian allegory, then there are two things that can be gleaned from this monologue's corresponding actions.

First, she is loving Eddie by taking care of him even though he does not seem to love her back as he used to. She is essentially taking care of someone else.

Quite often, Christians (like Mother Theresa) take care of people because they see the face of Christ in them. So, when they are taking care of sick and/or distressed people, they believe that they are taking care of Christ. Mother Theresa often said by using her five fingers, "You did it for me." This comes from Matthew 25:37-40.

Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you?’ And the king will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:37-40

It was easier for Daisy since she could actually see Eddie's face, but in a way it was not the Eddie who she once knew. Nevertheless, whatever she did for the new Eddie, she did it for the Eddie she once knew and hoped would see again.

As she said, Daisy used to use her will power for herself. But at the end of the movie, the will power that Daisy used was for her Love, her husband, for Eddie's sake. That's how she lives now.

The second thing about Daisy's dialogue will be in the next post.

How I Live Now Part I
How I Live Now Part II
How I Live Now Part III

The Host Part III

In the last post on The Host with Saoirse Ronan, the concept of the soul was introduced. In this post, I would like to look at another aspect of the soul, freewill.



***Spoilers Alert!*** There was a whole bunch of will assertion in this movie, especially in Saoirse Ronan's characters (two persons together for most of the movie).

But first, backing up further to see the larger view, the alien race that took over Earth was pushing their agenda to keep the native people from destroying themselves and their environment (as was mentioned in the first post). Unlike the Ender's Game movie, the reason for the takeover was not for land or resources, but to essentially save the planet by inserting an alien world government and populace (that sure sounds familiar).

This scenario of the movie seems forced. Why would a peaceful alien species who values non-violence forcefully take over people against their own will? Do they see themselves as the doing the right thing (good means and ends) or simply the necessary thing (good ends matter only, not means)? Do they really believe in free will?

This last question seemed to be a shock to the aliens. There was never reported to be a human that still asserted his or her (free) will after becoming a host. This is why Saoirse Ronan's alien character was alarmed and kept secret (for most of the movie) the fact that her host was asserting herself.

Perhaps the aliens did not believe in free will. I've argued before that if there is no free will (no God), there is no morality. If they did not believe, the alien actions would not have to be justified, since it's just those whom blind processes (nature) determine are stronger who get to decide (determinism). However, the hosts did assert their freewill, therefore, there are good and bad means (means matter).

The aliens who became friends with the humans realized that there was a right-and-wrong that the humans had at least a grasp of. This realization was attractive to them.

This attractiveness seemed to be ultimately an attractiveness towards God.