“How can you know that your whole life will change on a day the sun rises at the agreed-upon time by science or God or what-have-you and the morning birds go about their usual bouncing for worms?” (1)
The Big Door Prize by
The little town of Deerfield, Louisiana is in a tither with a new machine that came into the general store. With a little bit of DNA, this machine can tell you everything about you, including what job you are best suited for. Many people have tried it and have found that they are not in the jobs described in the test results causing rash decisions to occur. They start trying to pursue the vocations emblazoned on those little slips of paper. Some start questioning their whole existence. Others are already struggling with some sort of existential crisis, and they avoid the machine with every ounce of their being, fearing what the result would bring. Cheryl and Douglas Hubbard are trying to figure out how to move forward as their lives as housewife and schoolteacher are suddenly upended with the results of “Princess” and “Trombone Player.” This doesn’t just impact their own lives but their marriage as Cheryl questions why she is married to this commoner and Douglas is trying to pursue music with lessening results. Jacob, a high school student, fears the result because he is struggling with what his future will hold, especially if the results read “Carpenter” exactly as his hated father. Father Pete, priest at the local Catholic Church, is trying to hold on to his faith in free will as the whole town around him is dissolving in this machine’s predestined results.
This book was an entertaining read as it explored the ways that we wonder what fate has in store for us. The characters were nicely fleshed out as they struggled with their choices, their fears, and their fates. This book really has you questioning what you would do in said circumstance. Would you take the machine’s test? Would you take the result seriously or not? Why would you? Deerfield is also such a quirky little town that it makes the situations that arise out of the presence of the machine feel natural and normal. The conclusions in the book may not be the most satisfying but it does allow you to wonder. Lastly, the narrative does bounce around rather at a strange pace that sometimes you forget which character you're dealing with, but that may be just due to my focus while reading the work instead of a fault with The Big Door Prize itself.
In short, The Big Door Prize takes a very interesting moral question and teases it out with everyday characters in a zany, quirky setting. It’s a lovely book to pass the time.
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