'It's my life and I can do what I want with it.' Do you find this view acceptable? (Prelim 2001)

The concepts of selfhood and identity are much-vaunted components of the world we live in. Egregiously dubbed "Generation Me", a majority of today's youth are made increasingly aware of their right to make their own decisions and lead their own lives. Songs like It's My Life and Independent Woman have been popular recently, primarily for the insouciance and rebellious spirit they extol. Yet one wonders if Jon Bon Jovi actually had an independence of spirit in mind when he belted out "It's my life". It seems so apparent to us — this is MY life — that we rarely comprehend the significance of this statement. Are the lives we trifle with ours to lead? Religion will lead many to say that we are created by God and must therefore live according to the rules of our creed. Yet, even from a secular point of view, it becomes evident, upon further inspection, that our lives are not solely ours.

It can be argued that all events arise as a combination of characters involved and circumstance. Yet even when we consider character, we must ask: is character our own choice? Or is it part of a set of qualities immanent with us? While these questions lead into the nebulous debate of whether people are moulded purely by genes or their environments, it is safe to assert that an environment can influence a person's development. Hence, we are faced with a problem. The lives that we have claimed so long as our own, with breast-beating fervour, are largely determined by chance, and the environments we have been given. People blessed with exceptional talents or fortunate circumstances must realize that these give them a responsibility in their lives.

The key argument in all of this is that we are not "self-made" people, though we may try to pretend it is so. Many of the advantages we enjoy have come about as a result of other people's actions, and it is to these people we owe a debt. In economics, there is a cognizance that marginal private cost is not always equal to marginal social cost. In other words, the actions we take may have adverse repercussions on others. Smoking is a prime example of this. People who choose to smoke are putting not only themselves at risk, but also the health of "passive smokers". Thus, while we insist on our rights as individuals, there must be a constant awareness that our choices may impinge upon the happiness of others around us.

Perhaps the most common instance of people asserting their selfhood is that of the rebellious teenager. Choice of hair colour, clothes, music taste, schools, girlfriends or boyfriends — there is a melange of issues that can spark off agony between parents and offspring. It would be an ungrateful individual who denied the role his or her parents might have played — whether in terms of money and time spent or unquantifiable love. A rebellious teenager may declare defiantly that his choice to try heroin has nothing to do with his parents or family. Yet who undergoes the trauma of seeing a loved one capitulate to the temptation of drugs? Who suffers heartbreak and agony when a loved one chooses to fill his body with the corrupting influence of drugs? And who endures the ne plus ultra of torture in the event of death? It is a selfish and myopic individual who dares to claim that his actions do not affect others.

The problem is that while we look to the future in our never-ending quest for wealth, enjoyment and self-fulfillment, we often forget the ties of the past that still bind us. Maggie Tulliver, the heroine of George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss, asserts the importance of the past very clearly in her refusal to elope with Stephen Guest. "I desire no future that breaks with my past", she states, refusing to "vend the ties that bind (her) to the past". Clearly this is another aspect to our future decisions — the prospect that our choices may ruin parts of our past.

Yet we must not take this too far. It is not a rarity to hear parents stating that they know what is best for their child, or to hear that common jeremiad "After all I've done for you… this is how you treat me?" While we must remember that our actions may affect people around us, we cannot live our lives to please other people. Every person must make decisions for themselves, and be fully aware of the consequences of their decisions. For example, marrying someone to please one's parents may earn parental approval, but it also raises the distinct possibility of conjugal strife, unhappiness — and perhaps divorce. Over-protective parents may also dissuade their children from studying overseas. Yet this may be at the expense of the child's academic achievement, career and future. Clearly, a child who declared "It's my life!" would be well within his rights to do so, given the situation adduced here.

The ability to be independent and make decisions is also of great importance outside the sphere of parent-child relationships. It is imperative that people be capable and decisive. Without people of such qualities, the world would be devoid of leaders and innovators. At times, there are difficult choices that must be made. Truman's decision to drop the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki may well rank as one of the most tortuous decisions a person could ever be forced to make. Yet, would he have had the courage to make that choice, without a decisive mind? Certainly we see that while we must take into account the feelings of others, there are times when it is necessary to make a personal stand and assert one's individuality.

Choice remains something that is essential to humanity. Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange describes a scientific process by which people are incapable of committing evil or crimes. Yet one is left with the sense that without the choice between good and evil, we are somehow less human — mere robots programmed to do good. It is not the good deed that is desirable — it is the choice to do the good deed. Hence we see that it is fundamentally essential for each person to have the ability to say "I choose this", even though there may be adverse consequences.

What, then, can we conclude? It is ludicrous to suggest that we can do whatever we want with our lives because all our actions have consequences on other people. Yet we must make our own choices, keeping in mind that we as human beings, must be allowed to choose for ourselves — both for the individual and collective good. Independence and choice are powerful words and powerful concepts — and like all forms of power, must be used judiciously.

Marks: Content = 24/30, Expression = 18/20, Total = 42/50 (A1).
Examiner's comments: A well-considered, thoughtful essay. Could have considered some of the controversial issues of the day.