The struggle between duty and free will is evident in most human endeavors. Whether it be duty to God or patriotic duty to oneÆs country, it is the human actor who must determine to endure harsh struggles and environment out of duty and often in spite of free will. As Toynbee (2004) maintains that the act of moving from the balance and harmony of Yin to the chaos of Yang ôis performed by GodÆs creature under temptation from the Adversaryùwhich enables God Himself to resume His creative activity. But this progress has to be paid for; and it is not God but GodÆs servant, the human sower, who pays the priceö (9). It is duty to God that drives the human sower in such a transition, but it is free will that provides the human actor with the ability to choose or not choose to adopt such a course of struggle.
In Tim OÆBrienÆs (1999) The Things They Carried, we see that many individuals faced with the choice of duty or free will opted for duty despite preferring another alternative. OÆBrien discusses the men in combat who owed a duty to their country but who fought for that country more out of fear of being a coward than patriotic duty. As OÆBrien (199) writes, ôA mere matter of falling, yet no one ever fell. It was not courage, exactly; the object was not valor. Rather, they were too frightened to be cowardsö (22). This is similar to ToynbeeÆs contention that is necessity is the mother of invention, its parent is obstinacy, ôThe determination that you will go on living under adverse conditions rather than cut your losses and go where life is easierö (8).
We see in The Things They Carried that the struggle to endure adverse conditions leads to a dilemma of duty versus free will that is similar to the above statement from Toynbee. While we see that many combatants accept their patriotic duty in times of war, they are more inclined due free will to avoid the actual horrors of combat.
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