Three characters stood in no place. They kept talking to each other about their philosophies and perceptions about life and the world. The first one, Billy Pilgrim, had actually been a Prisoner Of War during World War II and had survived the controversial bombing of Dresden of 1945, and he now stood there, in no place. He talked about free will. How we are “trapped in the amber of this moment. There is no why” (Vonnegut 77). According to him, we just live the events, and hence we cannot affect the course of our life. By being trapped in the “amber of this moment” we are living unknowingly, we experience, but are unable to explain what happens to us. Without a why, we are unable of questioning our existence. He argued that we cannot affect our past, present, or future. We have predetermined fates, such as John Calvin argued. Therefore our free will is absent, or minimal. We don’t have control of our lives. We are trapped in the “amber of this moment”.
The second character, a bit old and worn out by the age, agreed with Billy’s point of view. He had lived centuries, even millenniums before. Epictetus thought that we are like “an actor in a play, which is as the playwright wants it to be: short if he wants it short, long if he wants it long (…) what is yours is to play the assigned part well. But to choose it belongs to someone else” (Epictetus 17). To him, all events that occur in life are determined by fate. Hence, they are beyond our control but we can accept whatever happens calmly and dispassionately. Individuals, however, are responsible for their own actions which they can examine and control through strict self-discipline. Suffering arises when trying to control what is uncontrollable, or when neglecting what is within our power. I believe that you must “detach your aversion from everything not up to us, and transfer it to what is against nature among the things that are up to us” (Epictetus 2). He believed that free will is beyond our control.
According to the third character, “there is a chain of events in this best of all possible worlds; for if you had not been turned out of a beautiful mansion (…) you would not be here eating candied fruit and pistachio nuts” (Voltaire 144). Everything happens for a cause. For every cause there is an effect, hence we are living under a constant stream of cause-effect sequence. According to him, we cannot affect this sequence. As I may interpret it, if I hadn’t applied to Pre AP English 10, maybe I wouldn’t have read Candide, and hence wouldn’t have considered writing this blog entry. Therefore, I am condemned to be part of this sequence of events, and I cannot affect it. To him, Pangloss, all is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. God created the world, God is perfect, therefore the world must be perfect, too. Pangloss is ravaged by syphilis, nearly hanged, nearly dissected, and imprisoned, yet he continues to embrace his optimism. He maintains his optimistic philosophy even at the end of the novel, when he himself admits that he has trouble believing in it. He maintains his philosophy, and advocates a passive view towards evil in the world. Something quite admirable.
As the three characters continued talking about their philosophies, a fourth character appeared out of the blue. He seemed to be interrupting, but his point was relevant to their conversation: “Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” Pangloss agreed with him. He thought that “when man was placed in the Garden of Eden, he was put there “to dress it and to keep it” (…) which proves that man was not born to an easy life” (Voltaire 143). Since the very beginning we were assigned a huge responsibility. In our hands was the garden, therefore we are condemned to eternal suffering: the suffering that implies dressing the garden. We were given freedom, but this freedom required a responsibility. Then, are we still ready to be free? Remember, every power requires great responsibility. The fourth man had kept saying: “Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility.” After he went, I realized that he was Freud. Meanwhile, the three men continued talking, discussing, and I kept writing…
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