All is Fair in Love, War and Ignorance

In Ancient Rome, the Emperor and the Patricians watched as gladiators fought for their lives in the ring, not only against each other, animals were sometimes involved for the mere entertainment of the people in the higher classes. After the Roman Empire collapsed, this injustice could still be seen in the inquisition, which killed thousands of people over suspicions and religious prejudices.

As is usual in every aspect of the human society, the people who were not suffering were indifferent to the suffering of the people being burned at the stake. As a species, we tend to want equality but still hope the best is given to us, we enjoy as other people suffer as long as this doesn’t affect the way we live. In Candide, this aspect of humanity is clearly illustrated when Lady Cunégonde is telling her story and she says: “I had an excellent seat, and delicious refreshments were served to the ladies between Mass and the execution.” (pg. 42)

As the man she loves is being whipped, this lady is offered various drinks and nourishment that keep her happy, and all this because she holds the affection of two of the most important man in town, which she ironically despises.

Furthermore, in these chapters of the book, Voltaire also targets the ignorance of humanity, and the length to which people will go to solve problems that have no solution.

“…the sight of a few people ceremoniously burned alive before a slow fire was an infallible prescription for preventing earthquakes; so when the earthquake had subsided after destroying three-quarters of Lisbon, the authorities of that country could find no surer means of avoiding total ruin than by giving the people a magnificent auto-da-fé.” (pg. 36)

This quote attacks human kind as much as it attacks the inquisition. Not only does it ridicule the idea that burning people solves any problems, it also ridicules any human who has ever done something irrational to solve a problem. Any type of ritual sacrifice is ironically murdered in this phrase, as is the thought of Inquisition, irrational beliefs and in a way, religion. 

The Bitter Truth

Lady Cunégonde wanted to learn “a lesson in experimental physics” (pg.20) with the very noble and extremely willing Candide when the Baron just happened to walk by the expensive tapestry that hid them, and by pure coincidence noticed the lesson taking place, which caused him to drive Candide away from the mansion with “…powerful kicks on the backside.” (pg. 21)

“Thus consternation reigned in the most beautiful and delightful of all possible mansions.” (pg.21)

The first chapters of Candide pretty much drip with irony. Not only are many of the situations absurd, but the voice used to write the book is so bitterly sarcastic that it makes the normal situations sound insane, even if they are entirely plausible.

 The first chapter illustrates what everyone would imagine to be a perfect house with perfect people, but one slowly begins to notice that this mansion is anything but perfect. In fact, it is probably one of the worst places I’ve ever heard of.

At first, the amount of irony used to describe this house makes it seem, as I said before, a bit insane, and even though it is targeting a society that is long gone, I found that it can be applied to our very lives. People today have come to accept as an absolute reality that money is the path to happiness. This thought is a form of epistemological violence: it has been guaranteed by the media so long, that it is no longer seen as the lie it is. However, as shown in Candide, the people with the most money are not always the happiest or the most fortunate, as a matter of fact, they normally aren’t the best of people either.

Money has come to rule our society, and that, is exactly what Voltaire protests in the first chapter of his book.

 

Money doesn’t imply education or morals. Money doesn’t mean knowledge. Above all, money doesn’t give you happily ever after. 

Who is Billy Pilgrim?

In the end of chapter five I truly began to question exactly who Billy Pilgrim is.

The only idea I’ve had so far is that Billy Pilgrim is a human representation for Vonnegut’s trauma of the war. This theory is supported the following statement in the book: “It would make a good epitaph for Billy Pilgrim- and for me too.”

This statement is made in the book whilst Billy is in one of his voyages through time. If the author were not, in some way Billy, then he would have no way to know what he was thinking.

When I read that statement I felt my theory was correct, this however, was proved wrong just a couple of pages afterwards.

“”An American near Billy wailed that he had excreted everything but his brains. Moments later he said, “There they go, there they go.” He meant his brains.
That was I. That was me. That was the author of this book”

Here my whole theory was proved wrong because the author explicitly separates himself from Billy. There is no way Billy can be a representation of Vonnegut’s trauma because he is completely different, on the other hand there is still the previous moment in which Vonnegut knows exactly what Billy thinks.

Putting it all together, I would have to admit that I still haven’t got a clue who Billy Pilgrim is. I find him an intriguing character nonetheless, and I really can’t wait to find out where he comes form, and if he’s real. 

WAR

“Before you kill somebody, make absolutely sure he isn’t well connected.”

Sadly, this reminds me of our current reality.

It reminds me of the way we treat others and it reminds me of the superficial culture we have become. It is simple for us all to say that we are not superficial, that we care for others and we give away all that we have.

That is a lie.

We may feel like giving to others every once in a while, and I would love to be selfless and help everyone. But humans (yes, me included) are naturally selfish. There is no way to deny that. When it comes to a very big and important choice, you will always put yourself first. I have tried to deny it, but truthfully, it’s something we can’t help.

War is unnatural. War is just “… the incredible artificial weather that Earthlings sometimes create for other Earthlings when they don’t want those other Earthlings to inhabit Earth anymore.” We have come to a point where we invent excuses to start a war. As a race we have stopped caring about each other and thus have completely unbalanced the world.

In Slaughterhouse Five I have noticed that most of the characters seem to think of the war as a waste of time. Billy really doesn’t care for it, Derby describes it as unnatural, and even Vonnegut is clearly disturbed by it.

From this it is not hard to draw the conclusion that on the whole, war is a pretty pathetic thing. 

We Win

The books in Tralfamadore are like a picture. They are messages mixed together perfectly to evoke a beautiful and deep image of life. Most importantly, these books are (like all else in Tralfamadore), not written lineally. “There is no beginning, no middle, no end, no suspense, no moral, no causes, no effects.” In other words, there is no room for surprise.

 I can’t picture myself living in such a measured world for more than a few minutes. I would probably explode.

 In a way the world of the Tralfamadorians can be seen as a huge chaos. With time being just a bunch or parallel moments, there is no way that the world can be organized. To me, Tralfamadore is a world of supreme order. They never ask themselves why the world is as it is, they never question living or wars. They have nothing worth living for. This makes life just a thing they have to go through every day because it is written that way. There is no room for a bit of chaos. There is no room for risk taking or for fighting for what you believe in. Tralfamadore just is, and that is what makes the whole thing dull.

“Vy you? Vy anybody?” 

This quote is actually quite touching to me and I find that it may describe many soldiers who actually lived during World War II. Most of the soldiers were just kids when they went to war, and although the posters said that they were doing it for their country I can’t help but think that they always asked themselves: why? Why were they killing the Jews? Why were they killing anyone who was different? Why were they killing at all? I can’t imagine that the soldiers were happy. I believe that any soldier has the right to be bitter and distressed. They should not have to see what they see in war. No one should have to see that. And when I think about it I always end up with the same question: If no one likes war… Why do we do it in the first place?

The world of the Tralfamadorians is very different from ours, and (call me biased) I believe our world is better. Not only a bit better, better all the way. The idea of the Tralfamadorians that life just is and that there is no way to change it makes the everything seem dull. The main difference between the Tralfamadorians and us stands in one small word: why. We ask ourselves why we live the way we do while they just say “it just is.” To me this is just a lie. It can’t be possible. There is no way that we can live without wanting to change anything, just letting people die and excusing ourselves with a simple “it just is.” If life is already written down then what is the point in living it? 

Backwards

And finally… let it be known that this book is a master piece.

I have become more familiar with the way Vonnegut writes. This has helped me understand the novel and I am now taking more out of each section I read. The time traveling Billy is subjected to is the reason for this novel’s hazy plotline. Said plotline only makes the book more interesting, each section leads to a new event, in a different year, and in completely different circumstances. As a reader I am still not sure what all these events have in common (maybe they don’t have anything at all) and where they are leading. Perhaps there is a bigger point behind all of the small memories Billy has. Perhaps they are just meant to give me more insight on Billy Pilgrim’s life. Perhaps the author used them just to fill pages. I wouldn’t know, but there they are, and they are thrilling.

Vonnegut manages to find the obscure line between excessive description and not enough description in this book. Every event is described perfectly. The author gives enough insight so the reader will get the exact image of the scene, but not so much that the reader will get bored through it.

This scene is a complete contradiction to the Tralfamadorian ideal which states that time is not linear. The way Vonnegut describes every detail of time (even if it is going backwards) clearly states that time is lineal. According to the Tralfamadorian way of thinking, time can’t go forwards or backwards, it just is. 

Furthermore this scene is just a mockery of war in general. It doesn’t illustrate war as something painful or even as something that has an effect in human lives. It just describes war as a comic book would, as if it were nothing more than a few pieces of scrap metal and some humans lying around crying melodramatically. It takes away the importance of war, which is also a contradiction seeing as it was this war that caused Billy all his suffering in the first place.  This is the main reason I loved the beginning of chapter 4.

I would like to begin by saying that the description of the movie seen backwards by Billy Pilgrim is easily the best scene I have ever read.   

(all confused readers please read the paragraphs from last to first)

Past, Present, Future

“Among the things Billy Pilgrim could not change were the past, the present, and the future”. This quote from the book appears contradicting seeing as Billy Pilgrim is seemingly able to travel in time. In this chapter, Vonnegut treats the past and present as if they were insignificant, somehow merged together. He writes them as though the limits between them were blurred. Billy’s life is a mixture of past, future, and present. He spends his time falling asleep while he should be awake but finds that sleep doesn’t come to him when he has the time for it. Throughout this chapter it is easy to see that Billy Pilgrim finds his life unfulfilling. As a war veteran and wealthy optometrist this seems hard to imagine, but that’s the way it is. His daughter thinks he is a liar, he was a war prisoner in Germany, he falls asleep during his work meetings and nothing seems to fill him up.

The fact that he seems to be crazy and is unable to sleep may lead to the reader believing that Billy Pilgrim has post-traumatic stress disorder caused by the war, and I must say, to me, that is the most likely explanation for his behavior and his idea of being kidnaped by aliens. The Tralfamadorians seem to be his way of getting over what he saw in the war. They believe that every moment has always been the same way and thus it could have never been changed. This probably helps Billy live over the regret of war. This ideology probably is the one thing that keeps him sane, or at least relatively so.  He is certainly a troubled man and I think some of this confusion may be due to the war and possibly to the bombing of Dresden which is what the book is supposed to be about.   

Something that struck as very interesting to me in this chapter was the plaque in Billy’s office which stated: “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom always to tell the difference.” This plaque seems to tie up with the quote I mentioned at the beginning, it states that there are certain things that cannot be changed, and we must accept that, but in a way it also contradicts it by saying that some things must be changed if they can be. I have noticed that Vonnegut seems to contradict himself a lot in his writing, even if it is with little things such as this. To me this is part of what makes him such a brilliant author, his book is fascinating to read because it is complex. You find yourself rereading pieces of it, just to make sure you understood right. The novel is extremely well written and the situation is so bizarre it is hard to put it down.