The Purpose-Driven Life
Ed is still young, but already has settled into the aimless life of a social drifter. Not a drifter in the sense of going from place to place geographically, but of drifting from place to place socially. Born into an ordinary life with no apparent extraordinary abilities or talents, he has rapidly accepted the idea that his past and present have been dictated by forces beyond his control so therefore his future also stands outside his control. This is the philosophy of life which leads directly to the rejection of ambition and skepticism that life has a meaning. All these aspects of Ed’s character only change once he has been given directed purposes and fulfilling these purposes provide him with the larger philosophical perspective to pursue his own meaning to life.
Free Will within Predetermination
By the end of the story, Ed has discovered the shocking truth that everything which has happened since page one was predetermined for him. His fate is not his own, but has been calculatedly planed by a mysterious agent. Thus, the novel seems to be implying that man’s fate is determined beforehand. On the other hand, once the playing cards begin arriving, it is Ed’s own free will to pursue their meaning and carry out the implied missions. Ed’s life becomes a cosmic game of cards in which someone else deals him his cards, but he alone makes the decision whether to play them or not. As Audrey observes, everybody’s life decisions are dependent upon the luck of the draw.
Living a Life Beyond Capabilities
The meaning that Ed derives from his missions empower his newfound purpose. He has berated himself throughout the book as the “cornerstone of mediocrity” and is dedicating his future to shedding himself of the person he used to be in order to fulfill the promise of “this new person full of purpose rather than incompetence.” Ed has arrived at greater appreciation of himself as a result of living beyond the limitations of what he thought himself capable. Ultimately, the driving theme demonstrated by the events of the novel are explicitly encapsulated as almost the final words of the text: “Maybe everyone can live beyond what they’re capable of.”
