The Minority Report

Instances of outside messaging, such as the punchcard denoting Anderton’s crime, the radio broadcasts throughout his flight from law enforcement, and Fleming’s note, develop the theme of “predestination versus free will.” Throughout the story, Anderton struggles with an inner conflict: whether he must murder Kaplan and, whatever he decides, whether it will truly be his choice or merely his fate. The punchcard bearing the processed information from the precog prophecy symbolizes predestination; no matter what Anderton does throughout the rest of the story, he will murder Kaplan.

The first radio broadcast announces the police manhunt for Anderton just as Kaplan and Anderton express their own free will in opposing directions (80-81): Kaplan does not want to die, and Anderton does not want to be arrested. A similar debate continues as Anderton listens to the radio in his hotel room. The second radio broadcast supports the idea of free will by describing how Anderton used the advantage of his position as police commissioner to preview Precrime data and avoid capture (84).

The note left in Fleming’s package to Anderton also suggests the possibility of free will: “The existence of a majority logically implies a corresponding minority” (84). Anderton does not fully grasp the note’s implication until he listens to the second radio broadcast and understands the flaws in the system he has pioneered.