Querube Barber - Shaping one’s destiny

Can a young boy shape his destiny by the choice he makes?

The great novel “North to Freedom” was adapted to create the movie I Am David. In this story, David, a 12-year old boy, escaped from a concentration camp determined to change his destiny.

David’s father was from England. He went to Bulgaria to rouse the people against the communists. When he went to Bulgaria, he took his wife and his son, David, who was very young. The communist leaders in Bulgaria separated the family. They killed the father, kept David in the concentration camp, and sent the mother, with false documents, to Denmark.

David had seen atrocities being done to the prisoners. On one occasion, after seeing how the guards mistreated the prisoners, David told Johannes, another prisoner, that he wanted to die. Johannes told David that those who are living can change things; those who are dead cannot.

David stole a bar of soap from an office desk. One of the guards wanted to find out who was the thief to kill him. David had the soap in his hand. Johannes, who watched out for David, took the soap from David’s hand to protect him and was shot. Johannes gave his life to pay for David’s sin. This is a symbol of Jesus giving His life for sinful mankind.

One guard had seen how Johannes gave his life to protect David’s. That guard had known David’s mother since childhood and loved her. He had saved David’s mother earlier by sending her to Denmark to keep her from being killed. He freed David and sent him to Denmark with an envelope containing his own official papers, a knife, bread and a compass. He told David not to trust anyone and to travel by night, so he could not be seen. As David travels through Europe, he has many flashbacks of his mother, Johannes, and the hard life at the concentration camp. His face was always downcast, and he did not know how to smile.

The theme of existentialism is present in this story. David went through many hardships on his way to Denmark. He could have given up. Instead, he made his own choice to keep on going. With the help of a lady he met on his journey, David found out that his mother was not dead but living in Denmark. At the end of the movie, he is reunited with his mother in Denmark. By his choice, David shaped his destiny.