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Candide Chapter 5
"Storm, Shipwreck, Earthquake, and What Happened to Dr. Pangloss, to Candide and the Anapbaptist Jacques"
As the ship sinks, Jacques helps the crew, but an angry sailor hits Jacques and knocks him down. This makes the sailor fall out of the ship. Jacques rescues him, but Jacques fall in the water. The sailor lets Jacques drown. Candide wants to help but Pangloss, after philosophizing about causes and effects, persuades Candide that Jacques was meant to drown just before reaching Lisbon. Thus Candide should not rescue Jacques. Pangloss demonstrates this a priori. (A priori reasoning is based on theoretical evidence rather than experience.) The ship sinks. Pangloss's optimism is vindicated only to the extent that Candide, Pangloss, and the angry sailor survive.
When Pangloss and Candide come ashore in Lisbon, the earth trembles violently, a tidal wave washes over the port, and fire engulfs the city. Thirty thousand people die. Pangloss is at a loss. He can't think of causes and effects to explain the disaster. Candide thinks it must be Judgment Day.
On the other hand, the sailor whistles, loots the ruins, gets drunk, and pays for a prostitute, who the narrator calls "the first woman of good will". Pangloss tells the sailor his acts are contrary to universal reason; this was neither the time nor place for looting or renting prostitutes. The sailor scoffs at Pangloss. The sailor says he stomped on the crucifix many times before and nothing happened.
Candide lies hurt under debris. Pangloss doesn't help but he does explain that an earthquake happened in Lima the year previously. He estimates that both earthquakes resulted from a similar cause, perhaps a subterranean bed of sulfur that connects Lima and Lisbon. Candide says this is probable, but that a more pressing issue was his need for wine and oil. Pangloss, disregarding Candide's pain, is offended that Candide expresses some doubt because Pangloss believes he has proven his case. As Pangloss is arguing, Candide passes out.
After a couple of days of helping the survivors of the quake, Pangloss and Candide have dinner with some survivors. While the survivors cry on their bread, Pangloss reassures them that the earthquake happened for the best. A familiar of the Spanish Inquisition hears Pangloss and asks him if he believes in original sin. Pangloss waffles. The familiar supposes Pangloss does not believe in original sin. The familiar then signals one of his armed attendants.
