The Adjustment Bureau

The Adjustment Bureau is a group of people who adjust or keep people on the plan for their life. They are following a written plan that was made by the Chairman. The workers in the Adjustment Bureau are not suppose to be known to the people whom they are tracking, but this is what went wrong in David’s case. David discovered the Adjustment Bureau because the person assigned to his case, Henry, made a mistake. David realises his life has been planned out and decided to go against that plan with Elise, the girl he is in love with. David and Elise met by chance more than once. They also had a strong connection because their previous revisions of their plans had them being in love. I found this very interesting since both of their plans had been revised and it ultimately changed their planned future, but it didn’t change the internal drive they had for each other. In the end, David and Elise decided the plan for their life and not the one set for them.

The character of David in this movie can be interpreted as free will. David knew about the plan for his life, becoming the President of the United States, but he went against it and made his own decisions. Free will is exactly that; you make your own decisions for your own life. David made the decision of continuing to pursue Elise even though Richerson, an Adjustment Bureau worker, told him it wasn’t in his life plan. David was so determined to be with her that he even convinced the Chairman of it. The Chairman, in the end, was so inspired by their determination that he erased both of their plans to be a blank one together.

The Adjustment Bureau itself represents determinism as well as the Chairman. The Chairman decides the plans, and the Adjustment Bureau’s job is to follow though with those plans. The Chairman can be viewed as God because he/she was described as someone that everyone meets in their life, but no one knows when they are meeting him/her. The Chairman is also a god-like figure because no one understands the reasonings behind the plans he/she makes. Theoretical determinism can therefore be used to describe the Adjustment Bureau because all of the plans they have are determined by their God, which is the Chairman.

Richardson is one of the workers in the Adjustment Bureau, and he also represents determinism. He follows the plan no matter what and he never questions it. On the other hand, Harry of the Adjustment Bureau represents more of a compatibilism point of view. He mixes his emotions and the ones of his case with the plan set by the chairman. He feels that it isn’t right that David and Elise cannot be together just because it isn’t in the plan. Harry helps David get his girl and he feels that it’s more important to do that than the follow the plan, in that situation. He also does not hinder David’s free will and allows him to follow the decisions he feels that he should make.