Does the Individual Really Make a Difference

In the book Ten Questions, Charon argues that there are crucial variables that limit the impact that an individual can have throughout the course of one’s life. In the movie “From Here to Eternity,” the characters in the movie are perfect examples of an individual influencing one’s life. Charon gives us four levels of evaluation to see if the individual can make a difference in: their own lives, the lives of those with whom they interact with, various organizations which they belong to, and in society. “From Here to Eternity,” shows us many characters that may have had a difference on each other. The main character from which the story follows is a man named Robert E. Lee Prewitt who demands an Army transfer and ends up at Schofield in Hawaii. Prewitt is asked by his new Captain to box for their company but Prewitt doesn’t box anymore so he turns the Captain’s request down which in result, the captain tells his subordinates to make Prewitt’s life a living hell. According to Charon’s first level of evaluation, we see each character in “From Here to Eternity,” make a difference in their own lives at some point. Each character in the film has free will which according to Charon means that each character has some control over their own lives, some ability to make a difference in directing what they think and do. An example of this can be seen through Prewitt’s best friend Maggio who at one point in the film is appointed to stand guard at the base while others go out and have fun. Maggio even though appointed guard at the time, decides to dessert his post out of his own free will which in the end causes him to get six months in the stockade and later killed. Maggio is free at some extent because he has free will but because he is in the army he has to do what they tell him to do. The Army is the social factor that limits each character’s free will in this movie. So yes, Maggio did make a difference in his own life by fulfilling what he wanted to do at the time rather