The Tree of Life: The Conflict of Existence
“There are two ways through life, the way of Nature and the way of Grace. You have to choose which one you’ll follow.”
“Grace doesn’t try to please itself. Accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked. Accepts insults and injuries.”
Nature only wants to please itself. Get others to please it too. Likes to lord it over them. To have its own way. It finds reasons to be unhappy, even when all the world is shining around it.”
Yin and Yang, Anima and Animus, Masculine and Feminine, the duality of man has been represented by a different terms and concepts. Terence Malick’s classic film, Tree of Life, bifurcates it as Grace and Nature through a dialogue that begins this thought-provoking film.
As soon as a human begins to become conscious of his self, he finds himself at crossroads. And no matter which path he chooses, another crossroads awaits him at the end of it. To be good or bad, to love or hate, to submit or conquer, to pray or sin. No wonder, then, that our lives are marred with such chaotic moments, especially in an age where more and more of us have begun to question the purpose of existence.
The conflict of man
The Tree of Life shows the story of two boys who are caught in this conflict between the way of Nature and Grace because of their parents.
The mother, a god-fearing, sensitive woman who wants to see the good in everything. For her, love is the only true power of the universe.
The father, an ambitious man who distrusts people and yet wants to prove his worth to the world. He wants his boys to be strong, to stand up for themselves, to be ruthless, just like him.
As both parents try to impart their values to the kids, they become caught in an internal strife. So much so that even as an adult and a successful professional, the protagonist says:
“Mother, father, always you wrestle inside me. Always you will…”
Which way do we choose?
As the film progresses, we realize that both the mother and father end up in pain and loss of meaning.
Even after trusting blindly in god, loving all his creation and living with grace, the mother ends up in grief, questioning her creator and his actions.
The father, for all his confidence and furious nature, ends up admitting that he’s a failure and perhaps he was too harsh on his children.
So, that leaves us with the question, what is the right way? When suffering is inevitable, how do you choose a path and stick on it? And if you decide to switch, how do you get your inner self, your questioning nature in confidence?
Nobody has answers for this. Nobody will ever have. But I guess, that’s the mystery of existence that makes life an interesting story…even if it always ends in a cliff-hanger.
