Candide chapters 4-5

In Candide's chapters 4-5, Candide shows a kind and humble disposition, and helps a strange man whom he meets on the street, as a deformed beggar named Pangloss. Little does he know that this man who he unselfishly helped, ends up becoming his best friend. Pangloss has very strange ideas about life, but they interest Candide. He teaches Candide his unchangeable theory of life. This theory, that all things in life happen for the better, is a way of life in which only optimistic people can adapt to. Pangloss has used this theory as a guideline for his way of living life. In order to follow this way of life, your mind must be able to change its original way of thinking, and see everything in life as a positive aspect. Even in the worst of times, you must be able to believe that whatever it is that is ocurring is for the better and that only good can come out of it. Pangloss contracted Syphallis and even in this hard and horrific time, he believes that the sickness is the best of both worlds. He was poor and did not have anywhere to go in life. Candide hires him as his own personal bookeeper and because he knows better then to leave his friend without professional help, seeks a doctor to help cure him of his fatal disease.

When the doctor hears of Pangloss´ theory of life, he tries to convince him otherwise but fails in his attempt to do so. The doctor retaliates by saying, “men have somehow corrupted Nature.” God never gave men weapons, he claims, but men created them “in order to destroy themselves.

Later on in the fifth chapter, Voltaire shows how men, when given privileges, become greedy and do things that they might have thought hypocritical before. Candide, Pangloss, and the sailor are the only men that survive a terrible shipwreck. Once they manage to reach an island they see that it is the island of Lisbon and it has just experienced a terrible earthquake which left some dead and many wounded. The sailor finds stray money on the island and decides to use it to get drunk and pay women for sex; meanwhile, Candide and Pangloss try to help the victims of the catastrophe and tell them that it was for the better to help them psychologically and they also try to provide as much medical care as possible.

Should they have helped totally and complete strangers, who most of had no chance of surviving, or should they have done what the sailor did and spent the money on material things for themselves? The answer depends on your morals and how greedy you are as a person.

theories or common sense?

Candide seems to be a man who just "goes with the flow" in life. This can be viewed with many different opinions. They just depend on your personal aspects, and how you have been brought up and raised in your family. Candide does not voice out his opinion unless in danger, this can be a smart idea depending on the situation. In chapter 2, Candide is put into the military. When this happened, he did not argue or try to get out of it like most men would; instead, he just joined and tried to get out as soon as possible. After that, Candide runs into a conflict where he must choose whether to be executed or tortured. In this instance, he chooses to voice out his opinion and try to save his hide. This does not work out as effectively as he wished, but fortunately, he was saved by the king of Bulgars, who showed him pity and let him go as long as he served in their army. once again, Candide just follows through.

Not only does Candide just flow through his life, he also follows the advice of any who is wise enough to provide it. In the novel, Candide, Voltaire shows the effectiveness of following theories. "[t]here is no effect without a cause," is the theory Pangloss tells Candide before he goes off into the war. Candide follows this theory throughout his journey. I personally wonder, "Was this a smart thing to do?" Theories are just hypothesis' that have not been proven. To follow an idea that has not been proven, and to apply it to your life may not be the smartest thing to do; although, this theory seemed to work for Candide. The theory he chose to follow was based on common sense. This allowed him to follow it without risking very much. If you choose to follow theories like this one, then it wont cause a problem; but if you choose to follow theories that have no way to be proven unless by experience, then you choose to risk whatever is present.

Slaughtehouse-5 chapter 9

Chapter 9 involves the death of Valencia. In the very beginning of the chapter, Valencia hears of Billy's plane accident. She goes hysterical and speeds her cadillac to the hospital. On the way there, Valencia cannot concentrate on her driving because she is so worried on Billy's condition, that she crashes into another car and leaves the scene of the accident, then she goes the wrong way on the highway, and then crashes into the hospital. This crazy drive resulted in the her death. Coincidentally, both unconscious, Billy and Valencia pass each other in the hospital. One was going in the direction of the operation room, and the other on the way to the recovery room.

While in the recovery room, Billy is put next to a man recovering from a skiing accident who also was an air- force historian. He is writing a book about World War 2 and it contains a part in which the destruction of Dresden took place. Billy overhears him talking about the facts he was going to put in his book about what happened in Dresden, and he tells him that he was there for the whole thing and knows exactly what happened. Because of the injury Billy had on his head, the historian thought he was crazy and did not want to believe what Billy was saying. He quizzed him about Dresden for a while and then Billy was taken home by his daughter. He, knowing and wanting to reveal the truth about Dresden, escapes to New York and and sees many works involving Montana. He then time travels to the time where Montana is breast feeding their baby and reveal that she knows when Billy has been time traveling. This astonishes Billy, and even more so, the locket on her neck with the same serenity prayer as the one in his office astonishes him.

Again Vonnegut shows how Billy's mind has changed with the war. He shows the dangers war can have and he makes his negative opinion of war very clear.

Vonnegut chapter 8

Chapter 8 consists of a Nazi propagandist who tries to turn the american soldiers away from their original duty. Derby, being the leader, refuses to stray away from the original duty imposed on them by their captain. Nearly seconds after, an air-raid comes in the siren goes off for the soldiers to seek shelter and protection. This raid completely contradicts what the propagandist said before the siren. This made any soldier who began to change his mind and want to go to the Russian side, change their mind again back to their original thoughts. With this part of the story, the author shows how gullible soldiers can become after spending only a few weeks on the battlefield. They become too overwhelmed, and too traumatized to continue with what they began, so when someone comes and offers a better option to what they are currently doing, they consider it; even though it may not be as good as what they are making it seem.

Later in the chapter, Billy travels back to where his daughter blames an old friend of his statements about the Tramalfadorians. Almost instantly after this memory, Billy travels to another time where Trout, a ladies man, drops salmon into a very attractive woman's cleavage. During the party, Billy has another time travel to the night where Dresden was destroyed. It affects Billy very strongly, and he again time travels to Tramalfadore. While he is there, he tells Montana, who is 6 months pregnant, a story about the destruction of Dresden. Vonnegut shows how disturbed Billy's mind has become within being in the war. They can no longer be normal and as they were before.

slaughterhouse-five chapter 7

In this chapter, Vonnegut continues with Billy and the Tramalfadorians, specifically Valencia. He tells about Billy's departure from the Tramalfadorians and his plane crash with the four- eyed bastards barbershop quartet. They sing many songs before the horrid crash, one which is about a polish man, reminds Billy of a hanging he witnessed of a Polish man who had sex with a german woman. With this memory, Vonnegut shows the extremities different consequences can have in different places. Different cultures view certain acts as vulgar and unacceptable, while others view them as gross and impolite but not a big deal; being in the war introduced this thought to Billy.

Later in the chapter, Billy travels to the time where he fractures his skull, but survives and is taken to a hospital by Austrian skiers. The next time travel was to a syrup factory. In this factory, Billy discovers the workers secret. The malnourished ones, sneak and hide spoons all around the building and when not being watched, they take small spoonfuls and eat it. At this time, Billy was scrawny and malnourished; therefore, he followed what the workers did and took a sample of the syrup. The minute it touched his lips, his body shivered in delight. Seeing that Derby was also in need of good nourishment, Billy snuck a spoonful of the syrup out of a small window that connected to the outside where Derby was working, and gave him a mouthful of syrup. Gratefully, Derby smiles and instantly feels much better. He even begins to cry of joy. With this, Vonnegut shows how the war teaches soldiers to watch out for each other and make use of all the resources they have. This is a very good skill to acquire and it is very useful.