Expect the Unexpected // Emmett Bryant

     Silence did not end anything like I wanted it to. Which, being an avid reader, that is extremely frustrating. Many times when I'm reading I find myself wondering (not even necessarily meaning to) why the author did not do this and did not do that or chose to have a character take a different path. But isn't that life most of the time? We have plan A, and we really like plan A, and then something comes along to knock us off course. Now we're heading in a completely different direction that we really don't like and yet things are almost entirely out of our control. To bring a little psychological aspect into this, a lot of times we fail to realize just how much the people around us and the situations we are in affect our life. We like to think of ourselves as autonomous creatures who do as we please (especially in America's extremely harmful individualistic culture) and yet that autonomy is nothing more than an illusion. It makes us feel better, it gives us a sense of control. But that's simply not the case. Although I fully believe God has a Divine Will that spans across major points past, present, and future, I think we also are like bumper cars. Sure I can steer my car this way and that, and I am free to choose whether I want to reverse or go forward, but most of my movement is governed by the 20 other bumper cars around me. So to me, while I loved the book, Silence is a lot like life: it went in a direction we wouldn't have necessarily chosen, nevertheless we can see (have seen, in the book's case) the destination. 

I commented on Emily Thullesen's post and on Haylee Lynd's post. 

Comments

  1. Emma Kate PattersonApril 19, 2022 at 9:12 AM

    I like how you related the end of the book to life. It is absolutely true that often times our favorite plan is often not the plan that happens. In life we must be able to take these hits and make the best of them.

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  2. Jessef LeslieApril 19, 2022 at 10:54 AM

    Nice analogy. I personally am not upset with the ending. He states that he now "loved him (the lord) now in a different way from before" (203). His trampling on the fumie was physical symbols of his foot and Christ's face. This is very different from actually taking that action, and also very different form meditating on doing it.

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