The short story, “We Live in Water” by Jess Walter, describes a man named Michael in search for his father and the other story describes the events leading up to a homicide. The prominent themes in this short story are determinism which is what is determined and not chosen for the characters, free will of the character’s conflict between morally right or the wants or needs of the character, and karma with the actions of the characters. Determinism, free will, and karma all manifest in this short story within the characters Michael and Oren but determinism is the predominate theme in the story because it relates to the whole story and the lives of the characters.
In the story, “We Live in Water”, both Michael and Oren, Michael’s Father, manifests determinism which “…is the belief that all apparent acts of the will are actually the result of causes which determines them” (Holman 124). One instance was when Michael craved a cigarette “He craved…