Free Will and Given Freedom

Abstract：Given freedom does not promise a free will，while a free will can give birth to freedom，which explains the contrast on Jacobs farm before and after his death in A Mercy.

Key words：free will；given freedom；independent mind

There are two forms of liberty，one is social freedom and the other free will.Social freedom is guaranteed by a system or some rules all people agree upon.However，social freedom does not promise a free will.Free will means the statehood of action guided by ones own constant faith，reason based on experience，or deliberate consideration，instead of instinctive desires or unconditioned emotions.（哈，1997：8） On Jacobs farm，his free will enables him shape a harmonious companionship isolated from the established social order with his women and servants，and with his death the moment of freedom disappears.

The farm shaped by Jacob is a kingdom free from the outside established social order.The time Jacob in is haunted with the discrimination against the colored，the female and those with poor origins.On the farm where Florens is brought up，the colored is treated as animals – “one by one we were made to jump high，to bend over，to open our mouths.”（Morrison，2009：165） Nevertheless，on Jacobs farm，women and servants are treated in a different way.Jacob makes a good couple with his purchased Rebekka – they have “disagreement without bile；trust and that wordless conversation that years of companionship rest on.”（ibid，87） And they also treat their colored servants well.Just as Florens comments，“Mistress never strikes us.”（ibid，68） Even the servants and the colored outside the farm share their friendly or even equal treatment.Jacob gives Willard and Scully rum as gifts during Christmas tide despite that they are only servants in the neighborhood.And once he has shared a tipple straight from the same bottle with Willard.Blacksmith，a free but black，is welcomed by Jacob as a brother.With the established judgement by color，gender and status being removed，Jacob shape his farm a land of somewhat freedom.

And that is credited to Jacobs free will.He is a man against the mainstream values of judging against people on color，gender and origin.He pierces its unreasonable part of treating people as objects and goods.As a wanderer abandoned by his family，Jacob thinks that “only things，not bloodlines or character”（Morrison，2009：27） that divides people into classes.He also has an instinct that human should share equal recognition.That is why he claims that his trade is only goods and gold while refusing little black Florens as the way for paying his debt.With such awareness，he builds his farm in a way that is free from the established rules he is against.

However，with the death of Jacob，the free，friendly and equal atmosphere on the farm is gone.After the death of her husband and recovering from her illness，Rebekka changes.Having been indifferent to religion，she devotes herself to Bible and stops doing the heavy housework she previously does.She beats Sorrow，has Linas hammock taken down，and advertises the sale of Florens.Together they carve companionship out of isolation，including the moment of Jacobs absence，but now they are threatened by the tension between host and servant as anywhere else.That is resulted by the absence of Jacobs free will.

The freedom given by Jacob does not flower in Rebekka.Rebekka has no individual mind.The family she comes from lives upon religion.Having no passion for religion，she knows no other way for women except that they are “of and for men.”（ibid，85） She thus lives upon the satisfaction from Jacob from the moment of landing on America and is silly with happiness because her husband is home.She has no idea of equal respect，equal recognition or freedom though she enjoys them from Jacob.She simply lives upon a man.The free mind of her husband is beyond her.Therefore，with the death of Jacob，the world built on his free mind simply collapses.With no mind of herself and no more guidance from Jacob，Rebekka is scared by the illness threatening her life and exhausted by the death of her babies as well as her husband.She seems no choice but adjust herself to the major values harnessing the social order outside the farm and returns to religion that she learns she can rely on from her original family.In that way，the dominating trend at that time permeates the farm and the happy land built upon Jacobs free will is ended.

A free will gives birth to the freedom for the women and servant on the Farm of Jacob，but that given freedom ends with his passing away.Jacob is one man with awareness，judgement and individual mind.Therefore，he is able to shape his land according to his own view of life and human – equal recognition to human and respect for life itself.Thanks to his wisdom，the women and servants on his farm together carve a harmonious life isolated from the discriminating atmosphere at that time.However，given freedom does not promise a free will.With the death of Jacob，Rebekka，with no mind of herself and used to living upon some outside guidance，resorts to local church and ends the harmonious garden she and her husband carve out together.

Works Cited

[1]Toni Morrison.A Mercy.New York：Vintage Books，2009.

[2]Zhu Wang.Major Theorists of Modern and Contemporary Western Culture.Beijing：Peking University Press，2014.

[3]哈耶克.自由秩序原理.北京：生活·讀書·新知三聯書店，1997.

作者簡介

陳麗薪（1985—），女，漢族，云南曲靖市人，英語語言文學碩士，單位：云南大學外國語學院英語語言文學專業碩士2016級研究生，研究方向：應用語言學。

（作者單位：云南大學外國語學院）