An Endless Gap

The Handbook Of Epictetus has been a teacher to me about the basic knowledge and etiquette of life; something we can many times assume is natural. In my previous blog, Straight To The Point, I mentioned death and the devastating effects it has on people. Epictetus reminds the reader that it is part of the cycle of life and that on must learn to let it go. As I was reading I came upon many more comments on how to handle death: “Never say about anything “I have lost it,” but instead, “I have given it back.” Did your child die? It was given back. Did your wife die? She was given back” (11). The ideas that are proposed seemed a little harsh and detached for my taste but I believe that if you are able love someone so much you have to let them go. It is one of the most recurrent themes in the Handbook and I can see why. Love can be considered as one of the strongest and most radical feelings. You can go to extreme lengths for love, and to loose someone you love is devastating. Being a Handbook, Epictetus wants the reader to be wiser by the end of his teachings.

The reading of Epictetus is very different from that of Billy Pilgrim’s story. In order to get the real teachings and ideas in Slaughterhouse Five you had to look beyond the page. Some times it was through the Tralfamadorians, and their deranged idea of a human zoo, and other times it was the way Billy reacted to certain situations. The Handbook of Epictetus on the other hand is Straight To The Point. Some might consider it easier to read but you must also try to go deeper in order to understand. His teaches through examples: “Remember that what is insulting is not the person who abuses you or hits you, but the judgment about them that they are insulting” (20). These ideas are not to be taken so literally. He is not telling you what to do when someone hits you, but that the way you look at things makes a big difference. If I would have started reading about Billy’s story with a negative attitude it is likely that I would have not liked it. The differences in these two pieces of literature are great, and as I continue to notice them the gap between them grows.