The Free Slave (A Bioshock Analysis)

This is a bit different from what I normally post. Sure I’m usually up to my eyeballs in anime, but not too long ago I took a pretty fun English class where we got to write stuff about pretty much anything. The teacher was really inspirational and I chose as my first median the computer/video game Bioshock. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t much out there in terms of discussion with regards to Bioshock when I originally wrote this so I thought I would post it on the internet so some other poor sap might find something quotable for the research portion. Still, it was a really good game and if you have about 30 free hours and strong resistance to creepiness I suggest you give it a play. I want to stress that this is an analysis of some of the key themes present in Bioshock, not a review. I also wrote this with the intention that people could understand the arguments without having played the game. So enjoy.

The Free Slave

“I chose… Rapture, a city where the artist would not fear the censor, where the scientist would not be bound by petty morality, Where the great would not be constrained by the small!” A cinematic shot of an underwater city in the middle of the Atlantic accompanies these lines informing the player you have a big world to explore and you’re going to have to do a little more than just save Princess Peach. Bioshock’s first person perspective quickly throws you into the story allowing you the freedom of choice to move and do what you will, however, you’re still constrained by the physicality of the simulated world. You unfortunately cannot walk through walls; you cannot talk your way through walls. Bioshock creates a world in which the player’s moves are dictated while giving the illusion of free will, ultimately implying that no such thing exists.

“No gods or kings… Just Man!” hangs on a banner below a great bronze statue of Andrew Ryan the man who created Rapture. Your ship has crashed in the middle of the Atlantic and you have swam to the only nearby structure, a lighthouse on a small island. Thus from the outset we’re already engaging in a dialogue with the writer of the game. It might be possible for you to swim out into the middle of the Atlantic, but the only real choice is to move forward and then down towards Rapture. The game will not continue until you do presenting you with a choice of drowning in the Atlantic or the possibility of a future. It was your choice to choose the lighthouse… right?

You play as the seemingly unlucky Jack on your horrifying journey through the city. Jack’s most defining feature is a tattoo of a chain on his wrist which has several connotations. The first one refers to the in game’s “Great Chain” that Andrew Ryan uses to express order cheap pills his objectivists ideal in creating the city. The argument is taken from Ayn Rand which a slight understanding of will greatly help in understanding what Bioshock is trying to say beneath the surface. Randian philosophy revolves around the individual and selfish interests. In essence man should be allowed to freely seek out true right and wrongness in order to advance society. “My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute” (Rand). The argument goes further to argue that man cannot exist without the great thinkers, scientists, and businessmen who run society. Rand puts forth that the “unworthy” or what Bioshock tactfully names “the parasite” take advantage of these “Atlases” and only when they shrug off the world on their shoulders can they lead society in the correct direction. As Andrew Ryan puts it “What is the difference between a man and a parasite? A man builds. A parasite asks ‘Where is my share?’ A man creates. A parasite says, ‘What will the neighbors think?’ A man invents. A parasite says, ‘Watch out, or you might tread on the toes of God…” Thus Ryan tries to create the city of Rapture free from the parasite: A world of freedom for great men to pursue greatness.

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Accordingly the whole premise of Rapture is the true free market without “petty morals” or the hand of government constantly oppressing the Atlases. Instead of a paradise the result is a city in absolute ruin from a war created between the haves and the have-nots. Ryan’s theory (and objectivism’s) center around the parasite leaching off the Elite in order for society to advance but Bioshock proposes in the form of Fontaine (Ryan’s rival for control of the city) that the Elite leach off the lower class. As Fontaine puts it “These sad saps. They come to Rapture, thinking they’re gonna be captains of industry. But they all forget that somebody’s gotta scrub the toilets.” Thus there will always be a need for the very “parasite” Randian’s and Ryan hate. The result that the game shows us (as opposed to explicate exposition) is dead bodies littering the flooding streets: Without the lower class, or those not pursuing their entirely selfish desires, the society could not function. Bishock presents a world where the elite persecute the parasite (the exact opposite of Randian normalcy) and it ultimately leads to degeneration of the very society it should have been leading in the “right” direction. The elite cannot be free from the parasite to pursue “rightness” anymore than the parasite can be free from the elite whom they need to lead them in the right direction. Ryan’s freedom from the parasite was impossible.

This point also implies that freedom is not an absolute that one can obtain by oneself. In order for Andrew Ryan to achieve the ideal freedom he must necessarily enslave and dominate those around him with force once unrealized promises are no longer sufficient. The circumstances are extreme but the message is clear. Freedom is something that we undersell or give specific instances of: Freedom of press, Freedom of religion. Though these things are important true freedom is allowing anyone to do whatever they wanted: Rape, murder, you name it. One person’s absolute freedom requires others to not be free. The world in Bioshock without a strict cipro without prescription moral structure and code leads to people abusing each other and destroying their bodies with genetic modifications.

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Being able to change your genetic makeup also highlights the nature vs. nurture argument. Rand’s argument relies heavily upon human’s ability to change their nature, but how much of this is really possible? Jack’s chain tattoo has another connotation in this regard: DNA. Your main character has been genetically manipulated and brainwashed to follow the commands of anyone who spices their leading questions with “Would you kindly…?” Jack obviously now has no control over his freedom thanks to the work of the two brilliant scientists who coded his genes. However, our inability to alter our own genetic code is another way Bioshock is pointing out that we as the player have no freedom. Sure the people in Bioshock freely improved themselves dawning all kinds of wonderful advancements like shooting flame from their fingers, but ultimately there is still no way for us to improve our “nature”. The splicers (genetically modified humans who took too many plasmids—power ups–) attack you on site and through the audio diaries we can conclude that it wasn’t the weapons that turned rapture into a rotting grave, but the people’s greed, desire, and self-interest. Further, Jack is lead around by the nose thanks to the mind control coded into him. Many nature vs. nurture arguers say that we are just a product of our genes and our environment and that all of our actions and choices are determined from those. Basically, humans are not free beings. We only view Jack as not free because we know his designers and we can see the effects: He has no choice but to obey. The question that begs to be asked from that though is: Is our free will any more real because we cannot see a vital part of the thing that makes us, us: Our DNA and the emotional turmoil that ultimately determined our psychological state.

The key phrase that is used to control Jack, and inherently the player, “Would you kindly?” is an interesting choice of words. Lorenzo Wang analyzes “In English, ‘would’ indicates the subjunctive mood, used to express a wish or desire relative to a possibly contrary reality. For example, when we say ‘were he a great man, I would listen to him’ but we may not necessarily know if he was a great man or not, or we know he is not and we are saying ‘what if he was?’”. Lorenzo is pointing out that the phrase used to control Jack is worded almost like a question. This implies that you the player have a choice. You could refuse to do anything “kindly” or otherwise which is in fact impossible. Even without the mind control the way Fontaine presents the facts leave a rationale player with only one true course of action. In other words Fontaine gives you the illusion of freedom when in fact none exists. This is the last connotation of the chain on Jack’s wrist. It points out that he is a shackled slave to his masters.

Jack is a slave to Fontaine but you are a slave to the computer game and arguably free will is not present in any computer game. Like a book the end is predetermined before you begin reading. An author unknown to you has already laid out exactly what you are going to read before your eyes skim the first word. You of course have the choice to read the book or to not read the book. You also have the choice to interpret the book however you want, but there is weight loss acomplia no choice for the book to contain different words or a different ending. In a similar way you are lead down the path of Bioshock. The ending (if you play through to the end) will result in your eventual conflict with Fontaine to ensure your future, the little girls you save a long the way’s future, and your revenge against Fontaine for using you all this time. With this said it’s obvious that you as the player do not have a choice as to where you end up, but at the same time the game gives very compelling reasons for you to end up exactly where you are. The only way to save the city and yourself is to kill Fontaine. Although my actions were not free I felt that I would have freely chosen that exact path and in fact did choose that exact path. The game does not appear to enslave me because the path I must follow does not contradict the decisions I would make based on rationality/morality.

Bioshock empowers the player by presenting the player with rationale reasons for following its story, survival. Whether the player chooses to give up and die is entirely up to them, but if the player is to move forward they must follow the instructions and advice of their jaded guides. Our ultimate necessity as humans to move forward in life on often very little information is shadowed by the characters of Fontaine and Ryan not presenting you with all the information about the city you walk through. Just like real life the search for answers is a literal search (Although typically I don’t find my answers while looting corpses). Still it’s possible to think you know all the facts and not know the facts at the same time. Fontaine proves this by painting Ryan as a vicious killer (which he may or may not be), justifying his humble request that you kill him. Your utter lack of control over this story matches your utter lack of control over preventing Bambi’s mom from walking into the clearing, but he (Fontaine) presents it as a choice. Every choice you’ve made has led you to the ending of this moment, every decision you have yet to make could be guessed from a deep look at your psyche. When you look at the choices you’ve made can you determine whether or not there was really a choice to make? Bioshock creates a world in which a feeling of choice is evident yet all players end up making virtually the same decisions which eventually lead to the same outcome.

WORK CITED

Rand, Ayn. Atlas Shrugged. New York: Random House, 1957.

Wang, Lorenzon. “Bioshock Explained.” My Opera. September 2007 <http://my.opera.com/noisewar/blog/2007/09/01/bioshock-explained>