Facing Reality

Candide, Pangloss and the sailor were the only survivors of the shipwreck and all three of them lived after the earthquake. For men who have survived such disasters, and see chaos around them, you expect them to value more their lives and notice that life does run out of time, so you must carpe diem (seize the day).
However, I was impressed with Candide since I thought he would be the drunk one looking for prostitutes, maybe his behavior was guided by Pangloss. But it was the sailor the one I felt pity for. I can’t obviously expect much from someone “who had the means of drowning the honest Anabaptist” (pg.33) or that drowned James. After such actions, the man had no feelings and went around the ruined city drinking and looking for girls, filling him with guilt.

When Pangloss tried to lend a helping hand with his morality, he replied, “ I am a sailor and was born in Batavia. I have had to trample on the crucifix four times in various trips I’ve been to Japan. I’m not the man for your Universal Reason!” (Pg. 34)
That statement made me think, of what a good sailor this man used to be and made me wonder how he arrived to that situation.
In philosophy we are reading Jean Paul Sartre and this is the perfect example of what the French philosopher warns. He states that without discipline and effort, the hero can become a lazy person, and a lazy person can become a hero. Unfortunately, this sailor probably fits in the case of the hero that became a lazy person. Most of all it probably isn’t the regret of loosing his past life that hurt him so much, but more the frustration of not being able to change things.

I also recalled to Sartre’s philosophy when Candide said, “The Day of Judgment has come.” (pg.33) during the earthquake. According to Jean Paul, the religious people are able to hold themselves in bad times, because they search for strength in God. Probably Candide is one of those people, and I envy him for having that strength source and for not having to face reality at all times. Maybe, this side of Candide is what has made him move forward and not get stuck at every problem he has.