Guess What This Chapter is Going to Be About... Go On! I Dare You.

Pangloss and Candide somehow get on a boat with James, the Anabaptist.  They start their journey when all of a sudden a storm hits and James eventually falls overboard because a sailor pushed him. "He (Candide) wanted to throw himself into the sea after the Anabaptist, but the great philosopher, Pangloss, stopped him by proving that Lisbon harbor was made on purpose for this Anabaptist to drown there." (page 33) Ok seriously I know that their motto is "everything happens for the best"since life's motto is very similar. There is a famous quote that says "everything happens for a reason"and I agree with it. Therefore I can see why Pangloss stopped Candide from jumping into the harbor.  It was James time to die even though it was an untimely death, but I think that Pangloss is using his motto in the wrong way.  Instead of saying, "Don't do it because it was his time to leave us," he says not to because the harbor was made for his death. That is incorrect.  I am 100% positive that the harbor was made for different reasons, more important reasons.  Harbors are used natural reasons and they were created naturally by the oceans.

Voltaire puts Candide and Pangloss through so many unfortunate events, like the earthquake, shipwreck, loss of James, being poor, etc.  It seems like he is taking the pleasure in making fun of Candide's misfortunes.  He keeps bringing in more problems but keeps making Candide think that everything is for the best.  "'This earthquake is nothing new,' replied Pangloss; 'the town of Lima in America experienced the same shocks last year. The same causes produce the same effects.  There is certainly a vein of sulphur running under the Earth from Lima to Lisbon.' (page 34) He tells Candide this because he was freaking out about the earthquake.  When Pangloss tells him this, the reader can tell even more that he isn't the best philosopher.  He continuously makes the same mistakes by explaining things in the wrong way.

In the next couple of chapters nothing interesting happens other than what the subtitles tell you.  For example:

• Chapter 5 Describing tempest, shipwreck, and earthquake, and what happened to Dr. Pangloss, Candide, and James, the Anabaptist 
• Chapter 6 How a magnificent auto-da-fe was staged to prevent further earthquakes, and how Candide was flogged
• Chapter 7 How an old woman took care of Candide, and how he found the lady he loved

Since the chapters are two to three pages long nothing really seems to happen.  It's frustrating because then I don't even want to read the chapter.  Every time I do it ends up being the same thing as the subtitle.  How can Voltaire give it away? No, it does not give specific details but it gives the reader a main idea of what the chapter is going to be about.  There is absolutely no element of surprise and that is just annoying.