There Is No Light Without The Dark.

People have different ways of viewing life. There are some that focus and try to create a way to achieve happiness and how to live a pure life. Epictetus was a Greek Philosopher that believed that “philosophy was a way of life and not just a theoretical difference.” (Wikipedia). To Epictetus all events were created by fate, we can’t control them, but we can accept them in a tranquil way.

When you’re life begins you start learning new things everyday. You see how people act and learn the values they teach you at home. Based on what you learn you start living life according to what you think it is right. I find interesting how some people, usually a long time ago, like Epictetus look at life based on their own perspective and by that they create a “handbook” or some rules we could that if followed you give you the result of a well lived life. It is up to you if you decide to follow this or not. By the way we have been raised, we follow some of these “rules” in a broad way because I see most of them as the basic of an educated life. However when reading the Handbook you understand more some mistakes you may make. In section 5 it states “What upsets people is not things themselves but their judgment about things. ” (Section 5) Many times we get upset with something or someone but we never seem to think that what may affect us is the result of the thing. If we actually take that into account we could avoid problems and conflicts in our life.

“The things that are not up to us are weak, enslaved, hindered, not our own.” (Section 1) We have the power to do what we want and create our life the way we think is right, which can be wrong. We have power over ourselves, so we must not let anything take over and force us to do what we don’t want to do. These people, in our case Epictetus what they do is to try and make us understand how we humans have enough power in order to live life the right way but it depends on how we use that power. It all comes down to a choice between right and wrong.

When we read Slaughter House-Five, we get to know Billy Pilgrim as a character. He fits into the teachings that Epictetus tries and make us learn because Billy has the power to choose right from wrong, for him he had chosen right but afetrward he realized it was wromg because he he did not agree with the decesion he had taken and was not satisfied with the life he was living. Billy does not blame himself for hating his life at the moment, which he should because he was the one that made those decision. Instead he blames the outcome of his life, that is exactly what the handbook says we must learn not do because in the end the outcome of the problem in this case Billy lifes is caused becasue of Billy so in the end it is the same thing as blaming himself.