Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1993. [Vol. 1.] Eger Journal of American Studies. (Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 21)
STUDIES - Donald E. Morse: 'Why Not You?": Kurt Vonncgufs Debt to The Book of Job
him with conventional wisdom arguing that evil occurs to a a person who has done evil. 5 But Job's tragedy is that he is a good man who although he did no evil nevertheless experienced great loss. Similarly, Dresden was a "good" city —that is, an "open," unarmed civilian city whose architectural beauty was legendary —yet Dresden was destroyed for a good purpose: "to hasten the end of the war" (Slaughterhouse-Five , p. 155). One of Job's friends maintains that his innocent sons and daughters were destroyed for a comparable reason: to "teach Job a lesson." (Both Vonnegut and Job suggest that the price paid in innocent deaths is too high.) By the end of the book, Job accepts the imperfection of the world, and his inability to account for the evil in it. As the man of faith he also comes to accept the goodness of his Creator, although that goodness may not always be apparent in the less than perfect world in which he must live. In effect, he states simply: "I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." Vonnegut, as a rational atheist, derives none of the consolation which Job did from the answers of traditional faith. He can and does find some consolation, however, in accepting an imperfect world where the power to destroy is real and often terrifying, whether the agent be nature or human. Writing "A Letter to the Next Generation" in an "Open Forum" series of ads sponsored by Volkswagen, Vonnegut concludes by giving a lengthy list of natural disasters and saying: "If people think Nature is their friend, then they sure don't need an enemy." In other words, do not look to Nature for moral guidance. 5 Job claims, rightly, that he is innocent, god-fearing, and has always done good not evil. The second friend contends that evil occurs because a person neglects to perform certain required ceremonies or religious duties, and if only Job will repent and perform them, all will be well. But Job says correctly that he has been a model of piety and has left no ceremony unobserved nor any duty unperformed. The third friend then argues that evil never occurs without a reason, and, therefore, if destruction has been visited upon Job then that is ipso facto proof that Job is indeed guilty of something. If he will but "search his heart" to discover his mistake, and repent of it then all will be well. But Job has done no wrong. As Jesus was to say a few centuries later: "The rain falls on the just and the unjust." If a hurricane destroys people or property that is no reason to believe such people were guilty of any wrong-doing. 79
