The characters of Jeremy Fink and the Meaning of Life make choices and often carefully plan their actions, but they are also subject to events beyond their control. Because life is full of chance occurrences, they find that every choice they make generates unpredictable outcomes, and they are forced to make new choices in response to events they could not have anticipated. Jeremy’s father’s accidental death is the chance event that sets the entire story in motion. Though he could not have known how or when he would die, he created the hunt for the keys as a way to teach a posthumous lesson to his son, thus illustrating the power of choice to give meaning to chance occurrences. Jeremy’s hunt for the keys forces him to confront the unexpected and adapt his plans to fit changing circumstances, and in the process he learns that although he cannot control everything that happens, he can control how he responds to chance.

Although Jeremy’s dad didn’t actually know whether he would die at age 40, as the fortune-teller predicted, he chose to live with this deadline in mind. As a result, he lived every moment to its fullest, carefully choosing what experiences to have so he could include the ones he wanted.