New Streams of Life (10)
New Streams of Life (10)
Early on I was reading Matilda (by Roald Dahl), which I found on my friend’s bookshelf by accident. It was a children’s story but I absolutely was in love with it. Whilst I was marvelled at the precocious child Matilda, I also took great
notice of the way the writer narrated his story. And I think that it was a considerable achievement if you can manage to grab attention of both children and adults.
Anyway the reason I mentioned this book was not because of the writer but something else. Matilda and her contrasting parents struck me that maybe environment is only one aspect to shape one’s life. I used to agree that environment could misshape your life if you are stuck into it too long. Take one of my friends back
into my county for an example. This friend of mine was an ambitious guy when I
met him seven or eight years ago. It was him who had lent me a whole lot of books that opened my eyes but cost me nothing.
But then somewhat he is still stuck in the county right now. Last summer when we
met, he said that the sloppy county environment gradually dragged him down as time went by. I was sad; but I couldn’t judge him, as whose details of life were
unknown to me. That said, I wish he had done the jump I did in 2001: leaving all behind and going for university to learn and explore.
I believe that while our past has impact on us we are the utter deciding factor
for our life. My friend’s father had such an unlucky family that he left his family for good when he was sixteen. Though relatively uneducated, he managed to live through his life with quite amazing accomplishments I should say. Whilst most people of his age are still struggling with finance such as paying off mortgage he had managed to own two houses free of any liabilities. And above all, he managed to offer the best environment he could to bring up my friend, his son, over the past some twenty years. It was really quite amazing to hear his story of struggle and glory.
But after acknowledging the force of individual will, I have to come back equally to acknowledge the influence, tangible or intangible, that one’s past life had left on his mind. I think one can’t wholly ignore this outside factor. And scientists have proved that also, such as twins ended up with different life story
and personality as they were separated into different environments to grow up.
But, unlike me, my friend prefers the force of free will to determinism. In his
opinion environment is irrelevant; it is your will that eventually and essentially made the difference. When I was moved by his father’s difficult past and sympathized with his tiring working-for-other-people career in those doggy days, my
friend criticized that it was one himself to blame if he had been working doggedly for other people all his life. But I don’t really agree with my friend.
I mean when you had to struggle for a living how you could possibly objectively
make out your future. When my friend’s father left his home and drifted around,
how could he say “I think I will start my own business now” when he had no idea where his next meal came from. It was true that you could hear such stories as that of Alan Sugar (known by common citizens for his entrepreneur image in the
TV programme The Apprentice), who grew up in a slum when he was young but now who owns business of net worth 80 million pounds. But it was rare. The moment you
hear one such a story, there are numerous other people who must have struggled
but failed.
In Matilda, the kid had nothing positive and educational from her born parents.
But on the other hand, she had Mrs Phelps, the local librarian, and Miss Honey,
her school teacher around to help her become the way she was at the end. But according to the theory of free will, she should manage to come through brilliantly
if she wants to shine and stand out herself. In my understanding the ‘if’ was
an ambiguous premise that was never possible to prove and hence the whole theory was flawed. But then whilst I couldn’t convince my friend to change his mind,
I hope I myself haven’t been too hypocritical to lose the plot either.
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