F&F, btw, I like the spider-wasp analogy a lot, but I think that LF chooses the way in which he seeks to escape his prison. What if there were a different way to escape the AoT, that didn't involve cacophonous destruction? A formal letter of apology to the Creator?
Seriously, I think that LF's nature was behind his initial decision to muck with the Creator's creation, thus incurring the wrath that resulted in his imprisonment. But it was LF's decisions that came back to bite him, just as it was the Creator's decision to cast him down that caused everyone grief.So, was LF acting by compulsion from his nature or by free will? LF is presented to us as an otherwise immortal being that was cast down through the AoT by the Creator as a punishment for his transgressions, and limited by the very laws that keep him alive in the Land. Though he strives to regain his celestial immortality, his plottings always seemed human to me [though consummately villainous]. I tend to think that LF is acting of his own free will, not because he is compelled to do so as an unavoidable fact of his existence. He is the smartest, most powerful being on the planet, but because the Creator cast him down, he is trapped, trapped
, unless he can topple the AoT and get back to his---perpetual wrestling match with the Creator?.By extension, I believe that we humans can choose on a moment-by-moment basis to do great acts of good or evil. Even so, we are all influenced by many things, good and evil, internal and external. A short list: genetic predispositions, upbringing [like the habit of despair, or just not knowing any better], instincts like self-preservation, seeking food, shelter, sex drive. These factors are further clarified or muddled by the limitations of our individual perceptions [and some have better sensory channels than others, not only the basic senses, but the ability to process those inputs----what about people with mental illnesses or autism, that may be biochemically predisposed toward or locked into patterns of thought that drive their behavior in ways that seem inappropriate to those of us that don't have those disadvantages, especially if those same people have lifelong been subject to poor care, social marginalization, or constant antagonism?]
But I digress. Despite all these other influences, good or bad, whether using good or bad judgement, clear or muddled thought patterns, whether acting on instinct, or on the serene wisdom of a model childhood or through the experience of many years of abuse, humans have (to a greater or a lesser degree) the ability to choose their actions---an excellent example of this is the movie Changing Lanes [Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck]. My wife and I really liked the way the movie pointed out the direct cause and effect, and how these two people went through interwoven cycles of revenge, regret, trying to redeem themselves, getting screwed, and back to revenge. Great movie!
I digressed again... Ok, that's all for now. I will come back again and answer the other excellent posts as I can. TTFN.
DW
[Weird, warped, and wanting lunch]
P.S., I found the banana!
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