Nature and Grace

Nature and Grace 

February 8, 2016

Class Film 

Terrence Malick’s film, Tree of Life, depicts two ways of life: the way of nature and the way of grace. Nature only takes for itself. It is harsh, cruel, and unforgiving. Grace enjoys, shares, loves, and cherishes life. It overlooks all wrongs gives without asking. Throughout the film, these two ways are held in tension with one another. Mr. O’Brien becomes so consumed by his work and driven for success. He warns his sons that in order to make it in life they must suspend goodness. One must exercise the will to power in this world of cruelty and unfairness. Mrs. O’Brien, on the other hand, represents the way of grace. She loves her boys unconditionally, delighting in their innocence, playfulness, and curiosity. She struggles with the loss of her middle son mightily, asking God why He took him from her. It is at the end of the film when she says, “I give him to you,” realizing that he was God’s all along. The way of grace and the way of nature clash in the marriage of Mr. and Mrs. O’Brien, perhaps symbolizing how these two ways clash in nearly all of life. In the end, however, grace wins out. “The nuns taught us that no one who loves the way of grace ever comes to a bad end.” The loss of his job makes Mr. O’Brien realize his own disillusionment in life and how he had acted foolishly for so long, thinking that the way of nature would put him on top. The family is forced to leave their home. As the car is driving away, Mrs. O’Brien is heard saying that “the only way to be happy is to love. Unless you love, your life will flash by.” Grace triumphs over nature in the end because it comes from a power far greater than that of nature. Nature is man’s creation and projection onto the world. Grace is God’s designated order of all things. In the end, grace must win, as reality is unveiled.