Free Will Against The Bureau

Throughout this film, whether personified or addressed directly, many philosophical questions were taken up. David Norris, a man who had been run through the toughest course of life -- having lost all of his family members before adulthood, exuded a serious determination to see his goal of becoming a powerful politician realized. Norris pursued a political career in respect for his father's admiration of such men but also because it put him in the public's eyes and arms; all of the attention, support, voting and applause for David made him feel less alone. There was always something getting in his way of achieving his status permanently, whether it was his impulsive nature, or chance. After meeting Elise, David realized that his loneliness could be healed by something other than public office, specifically the love he felt with Elise. The plot engaged ideas of free will through the character of David Norris, determinism through the existence of The Adjustment Bureau, and chance in more subtle form of the wind or a random acquaintance in the mens room.

Overall David Norris and his powerful will end up freeing him and Elise from any further control of the Adjustment Bureau. All though the Bureau spoke of the "Chairman" and his overall plan, it seemed that David and Elise knew in a truer sense what their actual plan should be. Chance brought them together, a previously conceived plan kept them apart, but their unwavering belief in their own right to free will helped them rise above it all. It was mentioned a few times that the Chairman had given all men free will and that they had always over stepped their boundaries so now there are plans for all people and the Bureau helps to nudge them along when chance gets in the way. For the case of David Norris and Elise, chance continually put them off their plans and into each others lives so continually and exhaustingly the Bureau had to step in again and again. I interpreted this as ones ability to follow their own gut, whether you believe in divine purpose or not, one should still strive to be in control of ones own destiny by way of understanding their own intuitions.

If David hadn't decided he was going to fight against the Bureau, it seems the rest of his life would have been under the control of some form of Compatibalism, with the appearance of both determinism from the Bureau, and the plan, combined with a bit free will -- free to choose what kind of coffee he wanted or what seat to take on the bus. When David realized what he truly wanted, more than anything in the world, being Elise, he was able to overcome the plan and the Bureau by following his belief in his own freedom which in the end finally lead him to what he had destined for himself.