I recently read the novel, “Drive Your Plough Over the Bones of the Dead” (and then saw the 2017 film adaptation, “Spoor”). This is the first I’ve read by the Polish writer Olga Tokarczuk. The novel kept my attention, though I did not feel any great endearment towards the story or its themes. The novel could be said to revolve around a couple of main motifs: the question of freewill vs. determinism, and the question of how much importance to give to non-human lives. Because I had already made up my mind with regard to these themes, it was not so meaningful for me to revisit them.
With regard to determinism, this has been thrashed out extensively by eastern thinkers. The “law of karma” is informed by greater intelligence than anything in astrology, because it assigns a significant role to free will; so it neatly wraps both determinism and free will into it. But even so, sages advise to put it aside. The “I Ching” too is a bit more than an “oracle” because in casting the yarrow sticks, the idea is to allow the universe to intervene at the time of consultation; and the interpretation itself is a dialogue that takes place with the subconscious. It is less about interpreting a pattern that has been hard coded at the time of birth, than about learning and interpreting signs, understanding natural cycles and our relation to them – there’s a whole practical philosophy behind the book, so working with the I Ching is more about getting into the spirit of correct and timely action than about being told what to expect by an oracle. The I Ching is perhaps just a tool for acquiring intimacy with the book’s philosophical underpinnings.
With regard to the novel’s other major theme – the relative importance of nature – it is increasingly clear that we place ourselves above nature only to our peril. We exist with all of nature in a state of interbeing. There is no way to separate or disentangle ourselves from nature or the universe. But interbeing is based on something deeper and more integral than the character’s emotional bondage. Placing oneself in the position of guardian angel or ambassador for the natural world is just as misguided as believing one is either its master or steward. To place oneself in any of these roles is to adopt just another form of separation. In doing so, the character additionally separates herself from her community.