October 3,
2013
The Tenth Man
The Tenth Man is a novel about a diverse group
of men that are held as prisoners during World War II. The prison guards decide
that three of them will die; it is up to the men to decide who that will be
among them. They decide the use a draw system by which each man will pull a
piece of paper from the pool. A man named Chavel pulls the losing lot and
immediately goes into a defense mode. He is overcome with the reality of his
destiny. At this moment he seems to have the free will to make the decision to
trade this lot for his worldly riches. He offers all of his money to another
man; in exchange for a paper that will keep him alive. This decision may be one
that he feels as though he has control over but in the end it is a matter of
determinism because he dies anyway. After he is saved from the death in the
prison camp, he goes back to his “old house” that he doesn’t own anymore. He
disguises himself so that no one in the town will recognize him. The sister of
the deceased man is looking for Chavel and hates him; so therefore he doesn’t feel
like he can reveal his true identity. Maybe the deterministic factor is that he
was supposed to meet the sister…. Could it be that falling in love with her was
his actual destiny? The story is a combination of free will and determinism;
making the theme run through the compatibilism theory. Or maybe I see it that
way because I have agreed with that particular theory the entire time.
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