Quote 5
“There
are things in this universe that we cannot control, and then there
are the things we can. . . . Let fate, coincidence, and accident
conspire; human beings must act on reason.”
During his closing arguments in Chapter 29,
Nels Gudmundsson offers this interpretation of the task before the
jury. Nels offers a different sort of argument from that of Helen
Chambers. Whereas Helen questions whether facts can lead to truth
and instead believes in love, Nels emphasizes the ability—and duty—of
people to think and act rationally. He wants the jury to realize
that it has the power to control events and that it should not leave
them to chance. In offering these contrasting viewpoints from Helen
and Nels, Guterson suggests that if love is one way to survive the
storms of fate, reason is another. Though love is fragile and reason
is imperfect, Nels and Helen argue that these human forces can be
strong and can affect the outcomes of events. With this message
from Nels to the jury, Guterson emphasizes the challenge of doing
everything in our power to rise above chance and circumstance.
