War, gullibility, and temptation are all seen in the second chapter of, 'Candide Voltaire'. War is played out to be heroic in movies. Devastating yet heroic. Candide is our hero in this chapter, but much like Billy Pilgrim in 'Slaughter House Five' he is silly, or at least appears silly so far.
Unlike Billy Pilgrim, Candide actually has a good body for war. His teachers call him a 'prodigy.' I don't think there are that many James Bonds, and I certainly do not believe that there are that many prodigies in war. Movies show our modern heros as strong tough guys, who can out witt anyone. They are always for our side, and are always sientificly correct and annalyze things. Meanwhile the real heros today die for our country, many of them end up with wounds, and the smarts does not only come from one person, but from many people.
One may also question how the power to chosse whether or not someone is to live or die is able to be under the thumb of one person. Candide is almost killed for running from the camp. He was first whipped than almost beheaded. But fortunately, for him, a king comes and stops the slaughter.
The silly philosopher is safe.
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