A man chooses, a slave obeys

"Choice" is one of the major themes of BioShock, and is inherent in Andrew Ryan's personal philosophy. The theme of self-determination and the question of destiny in the game is embodied by this phrase. During the game, the player character, Jack, is given many choices, both tactically and morally, but his actions turn out to be illusory: his will had been controlled and driven by Frank Fontaine, under the guise of Atlas, via the phrase he'd been conditioned to obey, "Would You Kindly…"
Ryan, once he identified that Jack was actually his illegitimate son, demonstrated controlling Jack with the code phrase, forcing him to obey pet commands to convince him of how powerless he really was. Andrew Ryan then used this phrase to have Jack kill him.
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Unable to stop, Jack was forced to acknowledge that he never had a choice, even the "plane crash" that sent him to Rapture was due to Jack hijacking the plane and deliberately crashing it at the lighthouse.
However, Jack's lack of choice is ultimately proven false as one act that Jack does have a choice in—saving/harvesting the Little Sisters—defines who he is: the savior of the Little Sisters who gives them a chance at normal lives (something Jack was denied since birth) or the power-hungry king of Rapture, not unlike both of his "fathers" Andrew Ryan and Frank Fontaine.
==Burial at Sea - Episode 2==
In the conclusion of Burial at Sea, Elizabeth sees several flash forwards of the events of BioShock before dying, one of them being Jack's encounter with Andrew Ryan, where Ryan's words can be heard: "A man chooses, a slave obeys."
==Gallery==
Andrew Ryan Wallet.jpg|A real-world Andrew Ryan wallet, featuring the phrase.
fr:L'homme choisit, l'esclave obéit
Category:BioShock
Category:Burial at Sea - Episode 2 DLC