Everything is for the Best

Now, that strikes me as very
similar to a phrase we
analyzed deeply in
class last semester.
The "so it goes" from
Slaughter-house five.

I can't help but notice the meaning that the sentence "everything is for the best" has developed in the novel. It is tied directly with fate, it is used for acceptance. Every time anything happens, Pangloss says that it was for the best, that it had to happen. For example the earthquake in Lisbon: "...is a manifestation of the rightness of things, since of there is a volcano at Lisbon it could not be anywhere else. For it is impossible for things not to be where they are, because everything is for the best." I don't see any other explanation for that sentence rather than his acceptance or belief in fate. Things happen, and they are accepted, whether good or bad, believing that they will ultimately to something good. Now, that strikes me as very similar to a phrase we analyzed deeply in class last semester. The "so it goes" from Slaughter-house five. That phrase was said after death was mentioned, as a way of accepting it and moving on. I think the "everything is for the best" has a very similar meaning. I'm not a big believer in fate, I don't think that everything happens for the best, that everything is predetermined and that's why we do what we do. I believe that what we do affects what will come, and things don't necessarily happen for the best. But this book begs to differ with that belief of mine. How so? I'm sure I'm not the only one who has constantly asked himself, "how can all this be for the best!?" well, it turns out that in a way, it might've been. One event is chained to another: Candide kissed Cunégonde so he is kicked out. He goes to war and ends up with nothing, so he meets the man that asks him if the pope is Antichrist. He is rejected by the man who asks him if the pope is Antichrist so he meets James. He meets Pangloss, and because he is with James, James agrees to take care of Pangloss. Pangloss gets better, so James takes the, both to Lisbon. But James dies, so in Lisbon they arrive wit nothing. There is an earthquake in Lisbon, so the church decides to burn people in order to avoid another earthquake. The kill Pangloss and whip Candide, so he is rescued by an old lady. Turns out the old lady works for Cunégonde, and thus Candide and Conégonde are reunited. See? Right there. It seems unnecessary that all those things had to happen for them to be together, of simply they hadn't been caught when they kissed, things would've turned out differently. But if for example he had been accepted by the Protestant dude, he wouldn't've met James, Pangloss wouldn't've been saved, they wouldn't've gone to Lisbon and Candide wouldn't've been reunited with Cunégonde. So apparently, until this point, everything did happen for the best in the best of the worlds. So I can't help but ask myself, does fate have a place in our life? Not only in this book.