Since I'm the first to post this comment I would like to bring up the topic that was most conversed about today in class. Which was the question about Candide being a parody of an adventure story. First off everyone that talked in class today made an excellant point and definately covered the topic from all sides. I would speacially like to point out Eura's comments though. Voltaire seems to try to poke fun at the idea of an adventure story, however he ended up making Candide just like one. There is the damsel in distress and the helper, however it seems that Voltaire tries to contridict the adventure story by adding in all the mishappenings. As far as the adventure stories I know of the "hero" always gets the girl and perhaps with maybe one set back he always succeeds. However with Candide he doesn't seem to succeed at all! Which seems like its the only element seperating Voltaires work from becoming just another adventure story with a point. So did Voltaire realize what he was doing or did he accidently make it seem like an adventure story with a horrible twist?
I'm going to go off the symposium item under the Theme category, "Who ultimately suffers more- Candide or Cunegonde? What comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in this novel?"
Throughout the book, both Candide and Cunegonde experience many true sufferings. I feel that they both suffer in different kinds of ways and experiences. With Candide, i feel as though he brings it upon himself. Through the whole book, he is quoting Pangloss on his theory that everything is meant to happen and everything is okay. This gives Candide the mindset that whatever he is going to do is going to happen anyways, so there is no reason to think before he acts. There for, when he kills a few men, and in the end is punished, he suffers under his own fault. On the other hand, Cunegonde suffers a great amount in this book. Unalike Candide, though, there is not much she can ever do about it. She does not bring the troubles upon herself as Candide does. I feel as though Voltaire takes the women characters in the books and creates them for suffering, for us to compare them to Candide with the thought that he is naive and uncaring of his actions, yet the women suffer a great amount more then he does.
For my symposium question, I chose to discuss Voltaire's view of his own country, France. Now Candide was written after Voltaire was first exiled out of his home country, so naturally he probably wasn't very happy. This is definitely illustrated in the book, specifically when he and Martin were returning to Europe. Right at the beginning of chapter 21, Voltaire starts taking shots at France. Martin says "Half the population is mad...others where they're rather gentle and rather stupid." He then goes on and specifically targets Paris, calling it a chaos and saying that no one finds what they are looking for. He again later attacks the people of Paris, when Candide gets sick. Candide comes down with a slight illness, but because he had a lot of money doctors and "friends" surronded him. Voltaire is calling his fellow frenchmen greedy. But on top of that he says that after the doctors helped him, Candide became even more sick, throwing in another jab at the doctors of France. It seems to me that Voltaire was not at all happy with France, and he was not afraid to put forth pretty blatently his unhappiness in "Candide"
Candide’s attitude towards optimism rises and falls with his fortunes. When things are going well, Candide has a positive attitude towards optimism and he claims that he can see how everything is for the best. However, when Candide is faced with any misfortune he doubts and sometimes even rejects optimism. When the Lobieros free Candide and Cacambo, Candide explains how everything must be for the best. “’If I hadn’t had the good fortune to run Miss Cunegonde’s brother through with a hefty sword, I would have been eaten, and without remission of sentence. But human nature in its pure state is good after all, since these people, instead of eating me, were all sweetness and light the minute they know I wasn’t a Jesuit’” (Voltaire 43). Not long after, Candide and Cacambo come across a slave on the side of the road. After hearing the slave’s story, Candide completely rejects optimism. “’O Pangloss, this is one abomination you never thought of. That does it. I shall finally have to renounce your Optimism’” (Voltaire 54). Candide continues to go back and forth like this throughout his journey. Finally, in the end, Candide decides that optimism is not important and he focuses on cultivating his garden.
Symposium Topic: To what extent is Candide a pawn of fate? What effect do his own decisions have on his fate?
In order to answer anything about Candide’s fate, it is necessary to know what that fate can be defined as, and in my mind it would be something along the lines of: Candide is destined to always inwardly hope for the best, even if it is at a miniscule level, and be constantly being bombarded with unfortunate events. If a person were to take this as a true statement, Candide would most definitely be considered a pawn of fate for the sole reason that his decisions wouldn’t matter. As an example, the very first bad thing that happens to Candide is when he is evicted from the castle after the Baron catches him kissing his (the Baron’s) daughter. “…seeing this cause and effect, he drove Candide from the castle with vigorous kicks in the backside…the most beautiful and agreeable of all castles” (Voltaire 19). In this instance, Candide was earlier taught by Pangloss to believe that all is for the best and nothing can be otherwise, and if that is also true, then Candide would not have been able to make a different decision about kissing Cunegonde. Of course, on the other side of this, Candide could have decided to leave the castle for no reason at all and escape his fate, but once again he would have a hard time leaving a castle he believed to be “the most beautiful”. In the end, I suppose it all comes down to how a person defines “fate”. It could be said that fate is flexible, and people can change it with free will, but what if a person made the correct decisions and changed their fate? Would it still be fate? What about if fate was inflexible, then free will would be an illusion, would it not? I digress, there is no definite answer to this question, but in the instance of Candide I believe that it is possible he is a pawn of fate.
The symposium question I chose to write about asks to compare the religion of El Dorado with the religion in the rest of the novel.
The religion Candide and Cacambo are accustomed to is violent and hypocritical; the book is full of examples, from the religious orator who turns Candide away in chapter three to the auto-da-fe in chapter six.The 172 year old man describes the religion practiced in El Dorado as "the religion of the whole world" and that they "worship God from morning till night." Candide inquires about how they pray to God, and the old man says that they do not pray at all; they have all that they want and they have nothing to ask of him. Cacambo asks about the priests, and is shocked when the old man says that everyone is considered priests. Cacambo exclaims "What!...you have no monks among you to dispute, to govern, to inquire, and to burn people who are not of the same opinion as themselves?"
In summary, El Dorado's religion is one of peace, understanding, and contentment, while Candide's is of violence and corruption.
Voltaire paints an ugly picture of relgious figures by showing the corruption and hypocrisy in the church. Voltaire is trying to point out to the reader that what the church says may not be the end-all be-all because even the higher ups don't practice what they preach.
In chapter eleven, the old woman begins her story by saying "I am the daughter of Pope Urban X..." (42). This is contradictory beause the Pope is supposed to be celebate.
Similarly, in chapter 24, Candide is reunited with Paquette. She says, "A Franciscan friar who was my confessor easily seduced me..." and goes on to tell Candide that she has become a prostitute and has been hired by Brother Giroflee, another man of the church (96-97).
What is Voltaire's attitude toward war as shown in Candide?
When Candide is kicked out of his castle, the first thing that happens to him is being enlisted to the Bulgarian army. The reason he is enlisted is he is "just the right height" (p.19). This reasoning already shows that Voltaire thinks the military is dumb. Once Candide gets out of the army Voltaire's opinion of war is shown. Candide walks through a village that the Bulgars had destroyed. He sees "girls who had been disemboweled after satisfying the natural needs of several heros were breathing their last sighs" (p. 23). This unusual image of heros shows how corupt the military is. Candide moves on to the next village that belonged to the Bulgars. He sees that "the Avar heros had treated it in the same manner" (p. 23). Voltaire is saying that war is basically revenge. If one country attacks another, they do the same things back and forth to each other killing innocent villagers and then calling the soldiers heros. Soldiers rarely fight each other which is how a war supposedly should be fought.
-Discuss the role of Cunegonde in the story. Explore the idea that she may be even more than the object of Candide's affections.
Cunegonde is Candide's motivation in the story. Throughtout the whole book the second she comes into his life he drops everything for her and persues an attempt of a relationship with her. Cundegonde is known for her beauty and good attitude. But Cundegonde is more than just Candide's focus of love. She represents that bad things happen to everyone, after a series of misfortunes (rape, parent's death, sold from captain to business man etc.) Cunegonde loses her beauty and her attitude turns for the worse. Voltaire uses Cunegonde to represent how bad things in the world can change a person and affect their life and lifestyle. Cunegonde starts as a wealthy daughter of royalty and ends in servitude. Cunegonde also represents false optimism, at the end of the book Candide and Cunegonde finally marry, but they marry unhappily. Candide still has this view that Cunegonde is the innocent beatiful girl she used to be. He is caught up in the past and what he has always wanted turns out to be a disappointment for what he has been waiting for.
Compare the characters of Martin and Pangloss. How does each of them reflect a philsophy of life?
Pangloss' philsophy on life is optimistic, while Martin's is pessimistic. The two character's philosophies are completely opposite from eachother and are shown throughout Candide. After the earthquake in Lisbon, Pangloss says "all is for the best. For if there's a volcano at Lisbon, it couldn't be anywhere else. For it's impossible for things not to be where they are. For all is well" (pg 30). Dispite the huge earthquake and all the other terrible things that happend to Candide and Pangloss on there travels, Pangloss stays optimistic and thinks that everything is for the best. On the other hand, Martin's view of life is strictly pessimistic, everyone in his eyes is unhappy. When Candide paid a man two thousand piastes, Martin goes on to say "I'm sure they won't, it may be that those piasters will make them unhappier then before" (pg 98). Even though the man recieved two thousand piastes, Martin believes it is either not enough, or that recieving the money will bring trouble to the man. Both of these philsophies strongly influence the way Candide acts.
The philosophy of optimism within the book Candide is actually quite amusing. Voltaire obviously wants to show us just how foolish people are when they are optimistic. Everyone dipicts Pangloss as a fool except for Cunegonde and Candide. "What are you saying! You, my dearest master!" (Voltaire 25) This shows just how much Candide values his master. In this point of time Pangloss is surely dieing of disease and it's just shows how much he respects the optimism of Pangloss by just being near him. I know I probably would have left him alone. ""I humbly beg Your Exellency's pardon," replied Pangloss still more politely, "for the fall of man, and his curse, were necessary components of the bast of all possible worlds."(Voltaire 80) In this part Pangloss is explaining how everything works out for the best and how man only have free will for the greater picture and that everything will work out as it is supposed to which is very optimistic of him. But to show justy how foolish being optimistic was because shortly after that [people that ovwerheard him killed him by hanging him for goodluck in not letting anything else bad happen to him.
i thought that voltaire's views on philosophical optimism were very funny. when our hour's symposium was in effect, the question came up, "what was voltaire ultimately satirizing?" knowing the answer to the question (because it states on the back of the book: CANDIDE IS A SATIRIC THRUST AT PHILOSOPHICAL OPTIMISM) i was very close to letting the class in on this. However, i did not because some people brought up some interesting points that i had not thought about myself. one of the funny aspects portrayed about philosophical optimism is when pangloss says, "i still hold my original opinions. because, after all, i'm a philosopher, and it wouldn't be proper for me to recant," (Pg. 114). this is funny because, Pangloss knows he is wrong, however chooses not to admit it because that is what philosophers do. the CANNOT go back on what they have said in the past when they know they are wrong. haha. also, in the last line of the book, pangloss states something, and candide, who usually just goes with whatever he says, makes the statement, "well said, BUT we must cultivate our garden," (Pg. 120). He basically says "no. you're wrong, this is what we need to do." As if candide knows that pangloss is wrong, or that he himself has become a philosopher to some extent.
Who suffers more, Candide or Cunegonde? What Comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in the novel?
Candide gets beaten, attacked, and cheated in many different forms. His naiveness seems to get him into more trouble as the book goes on but he doesn't care because all he wants is to find Cunegonde. While all this is happening, Cunegonde is also being beaten and raped, however thoughout much of the novel Cunegonde is gone so we don't see how much she actually suffers or didn't suffer. I think Candide suffers more because he gets reality beaten into him. By the end of the novel he begins to see that "All is for the best" might not be true. He is constantly traveling and each place he goes he can't find Cunegonde and gets tortured once again. Cunegonde doesn't show much emotion at all when Candide finds her and yet he still plans to marry her even though he decided that he didn't want to. Plus the story is about Candide and his learning and suffering so Candide suffers more.
* What is Voltaire's attitude toward war as shown in Candide?
After reading Candide, it seems as if Voltaire had quite a negiative attitude towards war. I think the line that best captures how Voltaire felt about war is, "girls.. disemboweled after satisfying the natural needs of heroes". By using the word "heroes", Voltaire points out how war is often glorified and how all the bad things about war seem to be overlooked a lot. I think Voltaire's view on war was that it was filled with a lot of terrible things -death, rape, destruction - but often people would fail to realize the reality of war.
Question: Discuss Voltaire’s portrait of religious figures in Candide
Obviously when writing this novel, Voltaire was not impressed with the world around him, especially religion. This is shown throughout the book, as he makes fun of many different religions, excluding the Anabaptists. He easily mocks Catholicism when Candide meets an old woman on his trip to the “New World” he comes to learn her story. “…I haven’t always been a servant. I am the daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina.” (Voltaire, 42). As a Pope, he must be celibate, but it was known in the past that men of the church didn’t always follow that rule. He makes another stab at religion when Candide meets Brother Giroflée, a Theatine Monk, who is found walking arm-in-arm with a woman, Paquette. “The monk appeared to be healthy…the girl was very pretty…she sang as she walked with her monk, gazed at him amorously and pinched his chubby cheeks from time to time.” (Volatire, 94). Later, they explain that they are lovers, which also another violation of the celibacy law. This doesn’t paint a very good picture of Christians, or the people of power in that religion. Later, Volatire attacks the Franciscans too. “It was a Conventual Franciscan who had stolen Cunegonde’s money and jewels in the of Badajoz…the monk tried to sell some of the precious stone to a jeweler.” (Voltaire, 51). This also contradicts the idea that holy people don’t steal or commit sins. All in all, Voltaire paints a very negative picture of religion and those that practice it.
Q: Discuss the philosophy of optimism as personified by Pangloss.
A: The philosopher Pangloss believes in and exemplifies the philosophy of optimism. The elder philosopher strongly asserts that "everything is for the best." When Pangloss contracts the disease Syphilis, he attests that it is for the best because that without the sickness, Europe would not have obtained chocolate. "For if Columbus, on an island in the Americas, had not caught this disease...we would have neither chocolate nor cochineal" (Voltaire 10). The philosopher preaches that "...everything having been made for a purpose, everything is necessarily for the best purpose. Observe how noses were made to bear spectacles..." (Voltaire 2). Pangloss exemplifies the optimistic perspective and finds the best in situations.
It's pretty obvious to see in Candide that Voltaire disdains the act of war. Although in the beginning of chapter 3, the battle is described as, "-splendid, brilliant, smart" (22)we see irony in the fact that girls are "-disembowled after satisfying the natural needs of several heroes" (23). The juxtaposition of the carnage and violence with the words "natural needs" and "heroes" seems to mock the glorified idea of war. The extreme descriptions of "brains and severed arms and legs" (23) also show the distaste that Voltaire has towards bloodshed.
What is Voltaire's attitude towards war? Voltaire makes his hatred of war very obvious in Candide. Through the detached narrator's ironic comments, a reader can easily tell that Voltaire views warfare as uselessly violent. Candide's impressive adeptness at learning drills earns him a few less whippings each day instead of genuine respect. The conquerors' "heroic butchery" brings to light statement of contradictory ideas. Later, when Pangloss laments the fate of their castle, he finds solace in the fact that the enemy got the same treatment. To the reader this is a very senseless declaration, one that echoes Voltaire's entire view of warfare as a meaningless show of brutish violence.
Lauren Wood For my response I chose, “To what extent is Candide a pawn of fate? What effect do his decisions have on his fate?” I would say that Candide is only a pawn of fate when he takes thing for granted, for example, Candide lives a fairly lavish lifestyle at the Baron’s castle and ruins it when he kisses Cunegonde. He takes his lifestyle for granted; he should have realized he could never marry her, “because he could prove only seventy-one generations of nobility” (Voltaire 17) which should have been enough for him to stay away. Instead he ignores this and gets kicked out of the castle. Fate punishes Candide for taking the things that he was blessed with for granted by putting him through ridiculous, horrible situations. It would seem that once Candide has had enough punishment fate will give him another chance to have the ideal life. This second chance comes when he arrives in El Dorado, a place where, “We have nothing to ask of God: He’s given us everything we need. We constantly thank him” (Voltaire 67), the ultimate utopia. Candide once again ruins the great life that fate has brought him by deciding to leave to get Cunegonde. Because of this decision, Candide goes through another series of unfortunate events. Candide never realizes that he brings the misfortune upon himself because of his desire to be with Cunegonde, the woman he is not meant to be with.
Dicuss Voltaire's portrait of religious figures in Candide:
Throughout Candide, Voltaire expresses his religious standpoint. He begins the book by saying that God is perfect and that this must be the best of all worlds since God is perfect, he made a perfect world. However, as the novel progresses, Voltaire clearly develops a different view. His view changes from hopeful to depressing. "Pangloss deceived me cruelly when he said that all is for the best in the world" (Ch.7). THis qoute expresses the changing views of the characters has the story moves on. Another quote that proves this is, "If this is the best of all possible worlds, whats are the others like?" (ch.6) At this point in the eighteenth century, Voltaire was very angry at the world when he sat down to write this book, he clearly shows his anger in this book with how the world was not turning out like the optimistic society during the eighteenth century had assumed. God plays a key role in Candide, "I confess that when I consider this globe, or rather this globule, I think that God has abandoned it to some evil creature," (ch. 20). Candide cleary expresses Voltaire's views on religion.
Pangloss himself is a very ironic character. One of the most ironic things about him is that he is considered "the greatest philosopher of the whole province, and consequently of the whole world". At the begginning of the novel he has everyone including Candide and Cunegonde convinced that his philosophy that everything happens for a bigger purpose and that we can only see small parts of gods huge master plan. Candide, his student, goes through the entire novel believing this and using small strokes of luck to make up for a multitude of bad experiences, fully believing that all is for the best. When Candide is finally reunited with Pangloss at the end of the novel he finds out that his mentor does not still believe what he has lived his life teaching but will stick by it because "[he] his a philosopher, and it would wouldn't be proper for [him] to recant" (Voltaire,114). This admission that his idol has given up what he most believes in sends Candide spiraling and he no longer knows what to think. It is ironic that he is considered one of the worlds greatest philosophers, because after putting his lifes work to the test he finds that he could not have been further from the truth.
I thought the idea of philisophical optimism came up most often in the book, and was the main focus. Every possible horrific situation that occurs in the story (which are many) Pangloss and the others believe it to be all for the best! It's quite ridiculous, especially in the Earthquake and Syphillas ordeal! "For all this is the best there is. If the volcanic activity is in Lisbon, it means it could not have been anywhere else. For it is impossible for things not to be where they are. for all is well." (p 13) When Pangloss says that syphilis needed to be spread from American to Europe, so the europeans could enjoy things like chocolate was completely ridiculous! The optimism was taken to another level and it was just a joke.
I believe Candide was to a very small extent a pawn of fate. What Voltaire was trying to say throughout the book was that stuff happens, but what you do to change your life is what matters. For the majority of the book things just happened to Candied, and he did nothing to stop or change them. It was not until the end of the book, with the help of the farmer, that Candide realized that only the things that you do can make you happy. In the words of the farmer "I have but twenty acres, I cultivate them with my children. Work keeps us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need." It was then that Candide saw that the only person that can change your life for the better is yourself.
Symposium Theme: Who ultimately suffers more-Candide or Cunegonde? What comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in the novel?
Though both characters suffer through great ordeals testing both their physical and emotional state, Cunegonde is the one that truly suffers more. Throughout the novel, Voltaire writes of woman often being taken advantage of by men. For example when the old woman meets a man that offers to take her with him to Italy, he tricks her and as she recalls, “Instead of taking me back to Italy, he took me to Algiers and sold me to the dey of that province,” (47). Unlike Candide, Cunegonde is owned by several men such as the Inquisitor who treat her like an object instead of a human being. Cunegonde’s brother even controls her life by claiming Candide is unfit for marriage to her because he can only trace back “72” generations. By the end of the satire, one can see how the misfortunes of rape, possession, and uncertainty throughout Cunegonde’s life has left her, “weathered face, bloodshot eyes, withered breasts, wrinkled cheeks and red, scaly arms” (115). Candide does not have any of these characteristics at the end, and is even shocked when he sees Cunegonde in this condition. Though Candide is severely mistreated, he is much better off being a man, and interestingly, Voltaire uses irony to question this bias when Cacambo claims, “Women always manage to find something to do with themselves; God looks after them,” (52). Cunegonde may have been swept from place to place, but it was what occurred during these instances that she was mistreated more than man.
"Who ultimately suffers more--Candide or Cunegonde? What comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in the novel?"
Both Candide and Cunegonde suffer very much, but they suffer in two different ways. Candide suffers a lot of physical pain, from being literally kicked out of the castle to being whipped by the Bulgars and the Grand Inquisitor's men. Candide doesn't let these events hurt him, though, because he keeps his optimism. He says, "All is well, everything is going well, things are going as well as they possibly can" (Voltaire 93). Due to this optimism, the physical beatings don't really hurt Candide. On the other hand, Cunegonde suffers a lot of emotional pain because she is passed from man to man as a sexual object. In contrast to Candide, Cunegonde gives up her hope, saying, "But I've had such horrible misfortunes in my world that my heart is nearly closed to hope" (Voltaire 41). Her despair makes her ultimately suffer more than Candide. Voltaire seems to be pointing out that when men suffer, they have the tools to better their situation and hold out hope, but women are used badly by men, so women have little control over their own suffering.
I believe that every time the characters travel, it is to excape something bad and to try and find the good in the world. "'We're going to another world' Candide would say. 'I expect it must be there that all is well. For you have to admit, one could grumble rather at what goes on in our one, both phisically and morally'" (Voltaire 23). Candide's optimistic veiw leads him to beleve that if there is something bad in one place it cant be anywhere else, and when the characters go to another place to find the good it ends up being bad anyway.
Im going to talk about how ironic the statement “the greatest philosopher of the whole province, and consequently of the whole world” is about Pangloss. Candide belives that every philosopher that says something different is wrong and Pangloss is always right. But Candide is not able to see how everything that Pangloss says is for the best when everything is really based on choice. Like when the Anabaptist fell into the harbor, Candide was going to help him back into the ship but Pangloss is the first to stop him. “Pangloss the philosopher stopped him by proving to him the Lisbon harbor was formed expressly for the Anabaptist to drown in” (Voltaire 12). So the statement is ironic because everything Pangloss says that is for the best reawlly isnt for the best, its more of if your willing to change things yourself.
To what extent is Candide a pawn of fate? What effects do his own decisions have on his fate?
In my opinion all of the actions Candide took had a direct effect on what happened to him (usually bad). For example, when Cacamboo and Candide went to that strange country in chapter 16, they saw two naked women running through the streets with money's bitting at their ankles. Candide then jumped to conclussions and thought that they were being attacked and took out his gun and shot the two monkey's dead. The two women then fell to the ground crying. Candide then realized that he had shot the loves of their lives. "My dear master," replied Cacamboo, "you're always surprised by everything. Why do you find it so strange that in some countries there should be monkey's that enjoy the favor of ladies?"
Another example is in the beginning when he was near death,two men from the Bulgar army took him in and gave him money and food but in return, he had to serve in their army. He agreed to do so. Once he was back to good health he decided he want to go on a walk out of free will but four men in the army thought he was trying to escape. They took him back to the king and he gave him the choice of 12 bullets to the brain or 36 runs through the gauntlet. he chose to run the gauntlet. Overall, his choices directly influenced his fate in the end.
I am choosing to do the discussion question, "Describe the charater of Candide as a hero. What qualities has Voltaire given him that make him suitable for conveying the author's irony and satirical purpose? Are they any similar heros that you recall from other books, plays, or films?
I think that Voltaire giving Candide the gulable, innocent little kid qualities helps portray the satirical purpose of the adventure hero well, because the typical adventure hero is knowledgable, and strong and Candide is not. In fact at times he's kind of a baby. For instence when Candide and Cacumbo must leave Cunégonde Candide almost cries becuase he doesn't want to, "Where are you taking me? Where are we going? What will we do with out Cunégonde?" Candide is anything but an adventure hero
Even when he tries to be a hero he fails. when he thought that the two women were being cahsed by monkeys he tried to save them but instead he killed their mates.
Candide remindes me of Chuck fron the NBC show Chuck. He is just an average guy thrown into adventure and clearly he isn't the typical hero, he's clumsy, and he too cries sometimes. Candide and Chuck are almost one in the same.
Although Candide is a satire, I also view it as a parody of a hero's adventure. The book as a whole contains many components to a hero's adventure. They start out in a grand palace, then make there way to Lisbon and from there hop on a boat to The New World, Cadiz, Paris, and many other places. Not only do they travel to new and different places, but they also journey to El Dorado, a mythical land made of gold where everyone is content.
The characters in Candide also mirror those of a hero's adventure. We have the hero (Candide), the damsel in distress (Cunegonde), the mentor (Pangloss), the sidekick (Martin/Cacambo), as well as all of the enemies they meet along the way.
Other elements that aid to being a parody would be the long-winded names that different things take; such as Thunder-ten-tronckh or metaphysico-theologico-cosmo-codology.
Also, the general plot of Candide act as an exaggeration of a hero's adventure. Candide goes through an extreme amount of ups and downs, more than that of a normal hero. He was kicked out Thunder-ten-tronckh, then accepted into the Bulgar army, then was mistaken as a prisoner of war, then was sent through the gauntlet; all within the first three pages of the book.
Karissa Beilke Q: How are Cacambo and Martin effective foils for Candide? What can we learn about Candide from his traveling companions?
A: A foil character is a character that reveals differences between themselves and the main character whom they are the foil to. Cacambo is very good foil for Candide because he helps to reveal Candide’s indecisive personality as well as his inability to be self-dependent. Although Cacambo never directly comes out and says that he opposes Candide’s idea of optimism, there are subtle hints that Cacambo doesn’t agree with him. “What is optimism?” (Voltaire 73). Martin is a Manichean meaning that he believes good and evil are fighting an eternal battle. The differences between Candide and Martin can be seen very clearly when they make the bet about whether or not the couple they see in the park is truly happy or not. From his companions, the reader can deduct that Candide is (in the beginning of the story), incapable of deciding things for himself and is not self-reliant.
Kelsey M Q:Who ultimately suffers more--Candide or Cunegonde? What comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in the novel? A: I know that this question has been answered before in previous posts, but I really like this answer and there are so many possible ways to answer the question. But, in my opinion, Cunegonde suffered more, simply because it felt like she was aware of what was going on with her compared to Candide, who had his faith and optimism to fall back upon. Cunegonde however, processes and understands all that is happening to her, because, she not only experiences physical trauma, but emotional as well. Plus, Candide is left in nearly the same condition as he was to begin with, if not a little more wise. But, Cunegonde is left with, "a weathered face, bloodshot eyes, withered breasts, wrinkled cheeks and red, scaly arms” (115). Which shows how much pain and suffering that she had to go through.
Duncan G Pangloss's optimistic view on life is that God created the world in his image and everything that happens is for the best, God meant it to happen. God is the good and the evil of the world. Pangloss creates nonsense reasons for why things happened. When he gets syphillis he says that if sypyllus wasn't created, there wouldn't be any chocolate. his view contradicts the world he is living in. The world is a cruel place, as seen by Candide's adventure. Candide is robbed, flogged and witnesses many deaths. This helps us see how foolish the optimism is.
I believe out of the two of the Cunegonde suffer more. Throughtout the novel Candide seems very niave and never really understands what is happening to him and others around him. It affects him less emotionally and by the end of the book he is physically fine. However, Cunegonde seems very awear throughtout the story and brings her emotional and physical suffering throughout the book all the way to the end where she is left bloodshot, scaly, and old. She was also very awear of what was happening and keeps her past with her through everything she does. She is haunted.
Cadie Engelking Q: What is Voltaire’s attitude toward the brutality of army life?
A: In Candide there are a few parts where the Bulgarian Army is shown as brutal, particularly in the beginning of the book in these scenes it can show how Voltaire's attitude is towards the army/war. It states that Candide had to suffer from abuse in the army. A simple thing like going out for a walk in the morning got Candide in big trouble with the military. When four soldiers captured him he was called out as a deserter and is given a choice between execution and going through a gauntlet. There was too much punishment for such a small wrong. I think Voltaire uses this as an example of how he feels negatively about the war/army because it’s overly done violence and ignorance.
"How would you compare Voltaire's outlook on human suffering with the views expressed in our time on the same issues by political leaders, writers, social activists, and the media?"
I think a lot has changed from Voltaire's time to our time. While a dominant view in Voltaire's time was that all was for the best and all the bad things that were happening were happening because God wanted them to, this is not such a dominant view today. With the exception of one prominent religious figure, who said that Haiti's earthquake was the result of the country's "deal with the devil," the world has overwhelmingly offered whatever kind of support they could to the country of Haiti, rather than try to blame the earthquake on things that have angered God as they did with the Earthquake in Lisbon.
Symposium Topic: What significance do the events in Surinam have on Candide's development?
His views of the world has changed. He thinks of it as disgraceful and wicked now. Then, when had went to the Magistrate for help and he didn't give him help, he was even more upset. "'Alas!' he lamented, 'that's just the kind of dirty trick you'd expect from the old world.' (Voltaire 56)" Voltaire tells us that Candide is sick of the treatment he is given. "This treatment was the last straw for Candide in his despair. (Voltaire 56)."
Who suffers more: Candide or Conegonde? Honestly, while both suffer a great deal, it's Conegonde who goes through the most. Yeah, while being flogged thousands of times is painful, it might be a little easier to get over mentally than being raped and then being handed around to a myriad of other men. Also, Candide was so dumb. It's ridiculous. Conegonde at least had SOME idea of what was going on. Unlike Candide, she really didn't have anything to fall back on, so she never truly lived in a delusional world. And in the end, Candide got to keep his looks, and the beautiful Conegonde lost hers, making her just like the wonderfully profane old woman.
Since I'm the first to post this comment I would like to bring up the topic that was most conversed about today in class. Which was the question about Candide being a parody of an adventure story. First off everyone that talked in class today made an excellant point and definately covered the topic from all sides. I would speacially like to point out Eura's comments though. Voltaire seems to try to poke fun at the idea of an adventure story, however he ended up making Candide just like one. There is the damsel in distress and the helper, however it seems that Voltaire tries to contridict the adventure story by adding in all the mishappenings. As far as the adventure stories I know of the "hero" always gets the girl and perhaps with maybe one set back he always succeeds. However with Candide he doesn't seem to succeed at all! Which seems like its the only element seperating Voltaires work from becoming just another adventure story with a point. So did Voltaire realize what he was doing or did he accidently make it seem like an adventure story with a horrible twist?
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go off the symposium item under the Theme category, "Who ultimately suffers more- Candide or Cunegonde? What comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in this novel?"
ReplyDeleteThroughout the book, both Candide and Cunegonde experience many true sufferings. I feel that they both suffer in different kinds of ways and experiences. With Candide, i feel as though he brings it upon himself. Through the whole book, he is quoting Pangloss on his theory that everything is meant to happen and everything is okay. This gives Candide the mindset that whatever he is going to do is going to happen anyways, so there is no reason to think before he acts. There for, when he kills a few men, and in the end is punished, he suffers under his own fault. On the other hand, Cunegonde suffers a great amount in this book. Unalike Candide, though, there is not much she can ever do about it. She does not bring the troubles upon herself as Candide does. I feel as though Voltaire takes the women characters in the books and creates them for suffering, for us to compare them to Candide with the thought that he is naive and uncaring of his actions, yet the women suffer a great amount more then he does.
For my symposium question, I chose to discuss Voltaire's view of his own country, France. Now Candide was written after Voltaire was first exiled out of his home country, so naturally he probably wasn't very happy. This is definitely illustrated in the book, specifically when he and Martin were returning to Europe.
ReplyDeleteRight at the beginning of chapter 21, Voltaire starts taking shots at France. Martin says "Half the population is mad...others where they're rather gentle and rather stupid." He then goes on and specifically targets Paris, calling it a chaos and saying that no one finds what they are looking for. He again later attacks the people of Paris, when Candide gets sick. Candide comes down with a slight illness, but because he had a lot of money doctors and "friends" surronded him. Voltaire is calling his fellow frenchmen greedy. But on top of that he says that after the doctors helped him, Candide became even more sick, throwing in another jab at the doctors of France.
It seems to me that Voltaire was not at all happy with France, and he was not afraid to put forth pretty blatently his unhappiness in "Candide"
Candide’s attitude towards optimism rises and falls with his fortunes. When things are going well, Candide has a positive attitude towards optimism and he claims that he can see how everything is for the best. However, when Candide is faced with any misfortune he doubts and sometimes even rejects optimism. When the Lobieros free Candide and Cacambo, Candide explains how everything must be for the best. “’If I hadn’t had the good fortune to run Miss Cunegonde’s brother through with a hefty sword, I would have been eaten, and without remission of sentence. But human nature in its pure state is good after all, since these people, instead of eating me, were all sweetness and light the minute they know I wasn’t a Jesuit’” (Voltaire 43). Not long after, Candide and Cacambo come across a slave on the side of the road. After hearing the slave’s story, Candide completely rejects optimism. “’O Pangloss, this is one abomination you never thought of. That does it. I shall finally have to renounce your Optimism’” (Voltaire 54). Candide continues to go back and forth like this throughout his journey. Finally, in the end, Candide decides that optimism is not important and he focuses on cultivating his garden.
ReplyDeleteSymposium Topic: To what extent is Candide a pawn of fate? What effect do his own decisions have on his fate?
ReplyDeleteIn order to answer anything about Candide’s fate, it is necessary to know what that fate can be defined as, and in my mind it would be something along the lines of: Candide is destined to always inwardly hope for the best, even if it is at a miniscule level, and be constantly being bombarded with unfortunate events. If a person were to take this as a true statement, Candide would most definitely be considered a pawn of fate for the sole reason that his decisions wouldn’t matter. As an example, the very first bad thing that happens to Candide is when he is evicted from the castle after the Baron catches him kissing his (the Baron’s) daughter. “…seeing this cause and effect, he drove Candide from the castle with vigorous kicks in the backside…the most beautiful and agreeable of all castles” (Voltaire 19). In this instance, Candide was earlier taught by Pangloss to believe that all is for the best and nothing can be otherwise, and if that is also true, then Candide would not have been able to make a different decision about kissing Cunegonde. Of course, on the other side of this, Candide could have decided to leave the castle for no reason at all and escape his fate, but once again he would have a hard time leaving a castle he believed to be “the most beautiful”. In the end, I suppose it all comes down to how a person defines “fate”. It could be said that fate is flexible, and people can change it with free will, but what if a person made the correct decisions and changed their fate? Would it still be fate? What about if fate was inflexible, then free will would be an illusion, would it not? I digress, there is no definite answer to this question, but in the instance of Candide I believe that it is possible he is a pawn of fate.
The symposium question I chose to write about asks to compare the religion of El Dorado with the religion in the rest of the novel.
ReplyDeleteThe religion Candide and Cacambo are accustomed to is violent and hypocritical; the book is full of examples, from the religious orator who turns Candide away in chapter three to the auto-da-fe in chapter six.The 172 year old man describes the religion practiced in El Dorado as "the religion of the whole world" and that they "worship God from morning till night." Candide inquires about how they pray to God, and the old man says that they do not pray at all; they have all that they want and they have nothing to ask of him. Cacambo asks about the priests, and is shocked when the old man says that everyone is considered priests. Cacambo exclaims "What!...you have no monks among you to dispute, to govern, to inquire, and to burn people who are not of the same opinion as themselves?"
In summary, El Dorado's religion is one of peace, understanding, and contentment, while Candide's is of violence and corruption.
Voltaire paints an ugly picture of relgious figures by showing the corruption and hypocrisy in the church. Voltaire is trying to point out to the reader that what the church says may not be the end-all be-all because even the higher ups don't practice what they preach.
ReplyDeleteIn chapter eleven, the old woman begins her story by saying "I am the daughter of Pope Urban X..." (42). This is contradictory beause the Pope is supposed to be celebate.
Similarly, in chapter 24, Candide is reunited with Paquette. She says, "A Franciscan friar who was my confessor easily seduced me..." and goes on to tell Candide that she has become a prostitute and has been hired by Brother Giroflee, another man of the church (96-97).
What is Voltaire's attitude toward war as shown in Candide?
ReplyDeleteWhen Candide is kicked out of his castle, the first thing that happens to him is being enlisted to the Bulgarian army. The reason he is enlisted is he is "just the right height" (p.19). This reasoning already shows that Voltaire thinks the military is dumb. Once Candide gets out of the army Voltaire's opinion of war is shown. Candide walks through a village that the Bulgars had destroyed. He sees "girls who had been disemboweled after satisfying the natural needs of several heros were breathing their last sighs" (p. 23). This unusual image of heros shows how corupt the military is. Candide moves on to the next village that belonged to the Bulgars. He sees that "the Avar heros had treated it in the same manner" (p. 23). Voltaire is saying that war is basically revenge. If one country attacks another, they do the same things back and forth to each other killing innocent villagers and then calling the soldiers heros. Soldiers rarely fight each other which is how a war supposedly should be fought.
-Discuss the role of Cunegonde in the story. Explore the idea that she may be even more than the object of Candide's affections.
ReplyDeleteCunegonde is Candide's motivation in the story. Throughtout the whole book the second she comes into his life he drops everything for her and persues an attempt of a relationship with her. Cundegonde is known for her beauty and good attitude. But Cundegonde is more than just Candide's focus of love. She represents that bad things happen to everyone, after a series of misfortunes (rape, parent's death, sold from captain to business man etc.) Cunegonde loses her beauty and her attitude turns for the worse. Voltaire uses Cunegonde to represent how bad things in the world can change a person and affect their life and lifestyle. Cunegonde starts as a wealthy daughter of royalty and ends in servitude. Cunegonde also represents false optimism, at the end of the book Candide and Cunegonde finally marry, but they marry unhappily. Candide still has this view that Cunegonde is the innocent beatiful girl she used to be. He is caught up in the past and what he has always wanted turns out to be a disappointment for what he has been waiting for.
Compare the characters of Martin and Pangloss. How does each of them reflect a philsophy of life?
ReplyDeletePangloss' philsophy on life is optimistic, while Martin's is pessimistic. The two character's philosophies are completely opposite from eachother and are shown throughout Candide. After the earthquake in Lisbon, Pangloss says "all is for the best. For if there's a volcano at Lisbon, it couldn't be anywhere else. For it's impossible for things not to be where they are. For all is well" (pg 30). Dispite the huge earthquake and all the other terrible things that happend to Candide and Pangloss on there travels, Pangloss stays optimistic and thinks that everything is for the best. On the other hand, Martin's view of life is strictly pessimistic, everyone in his eyes is unhappy. When Candide paid a man two thousand piastes, Martin goes on to say "I'm sure they won't, it may be that those piasters will make them unhappier then before" (pg 98). Even though the man recieved two thousand piastes, Martin believes it is either not enough, or that recieving the money will bring trouble to the man. Both of these philsophies strongly influence the way Candide acts.
The philosophy of optimism within the book Candide is actually quite amusing. Voltaire obviously wants to show us just how foolish people are when they are optimistic. Everyone dipicts Pangloss as a fool except for Cunegonde and Candide. "What are you saying! You, my dearest master!" (Voltaire 25) This shows just how much Candide values his master. In this point of time Pangloss is surely dieing of disease and it's just shows how much he respects the optimism of Pangloss by just being near him. I know I probably would have left him alone. ""I humbly beg Your Exellency's pardon," replied Pangloss still more politely, "for the fall of man, and his curse, were necessary components of the bast of all possible worlds."(Voltaire 80) In this part Pangloss is explaining how everything works out for the best and how man only have free will for the greater picture and that everything will work out as it is supposed to which is very optimistic of him. But to show justy how foolish being optimistic was because shortly after that [people that ovwerheard him killed him by hanging him for goodluck in not letting anything else bad happen to him.
ReplyDeletei thought that voltaire's views on philosophical optimism were very funny. when our hour's symposium was in effect, the question came up, "what was voltaire ultimately satirizing?" knowing the answer to the question (because it states on the back of the book: CANDIDE IS A SATIRIC THRUST AT PHILOSOPHICAL OPTIMISM) i was very close to letting the class in on this. However, i did not because some people brought up some interesting points that i had not thought about myself. one of the funny aspects portrayed about philosophical optimism is when pangloss says, "i still hold my original opinions. because, after all, i'm a philosopher, and it wouldn't be proper for me to recant," (Pg. 114). this is funny because, Pangloss knows he is wrong, however chooses not to admit it because that is what philosophers do. the CANNOT go back on what they have said in the past when they know they are wrong. haha. also, in the last line of the book, pangloss states something, and candide, who usually just goes with whatever he says, makes the statement, "well said, BUT we must cultivate our garden," (Pg. 120). He basically says "no. you're wrong, this is what we need to do." As if candide knows that pangloss is wrong, or that he himself has become a philosopher to some extent.
ReplyDeleteWho suffers more, Candide or Cunegonde? What Comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in the novel?
ReplyDeleteCandide gets beaten, attacked, and cheated in many different forms. His naiveness seems to get him into more trouble as the book goes on but he doesn't care because all he wants is to find Cunegonde. While all this is happening, Cunegonde is also being beaten and raped, however thoughout much of the novel Cunegonde is gone so we don't see how much she actually suffers or didn't suffer. I think Candide suffers more because he gets reality beaten into him. By the end of the novel he begins to see that "All is for the best" might not be true. He is constantly traveling and each place he goes he can't find Cunegonde and gets tortured once again. Cunegonde doesn't show much emotion at all when Candide finds her and yet he still plans to marry her even though he decided that he didn't want to. Plus the story is about Candide and his learning and suffering so Candide suffers more.
* What is Voltaire's attitude toward war as shown in Candide?
ReplyDeleteAfter reading Candide, it seems as if Voltaire had quite a negiative attitude towards war. I think the line that best captures how Voltaire felt about war is, "girls.. disemboweled after satisfying the natural needs of heroes". By using the word "heroes", Voltaire points out how war is often glorified and how all the bad things about war seem to be overlooked a lot. I think Voltaire's view on war was that it was filled with a lot of terrible things -death, rape, destruction - but often people would fail to realize the reality of war.
Question: Discuss Voltaire’s portrait of religious figures in Candide
ReplyDeleteObviously when writing this novel, Voltaire was not impressed with the world around him, especially religion. This is shown throughout the book, as he makes fun of many different religions, excluding the Anabaptists. He easily mocks Catholicism when Candide meets an old woman on his trip to the “New World” he comes to learn her story. “…I haven’t always been a servant. I am the daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina.” (Voltaire, 42). As a Pope, he must be celibate, but it was known in the past that men of the church didn’t always follow that rule. He makes another stab at religion when Candide meets Brother Giroflée, a Theatine Monk, who is found walking arm-in-arm with a woman, Paquette. “The monk appeared to be healthy…the girl was very pretty…she sang as she walked with her monk, gazed at him amorously and pinched his chubby cheeks from time to time.” (Volatire, 94). Later, they explain that they are lovers, which also another violation of the celibacy law. This doesn’t paint a very good picture of Christians, or the people of power in that religion. Later, Volatire attacks the Franciscans too. “It was a Conventual Franciscan who had stolen Cunegonde’s money and jewels in the of Badajoz…the monk tried to sell some of the precious stone to a jeweler.” (Voltaire, 51). This also contradicts the idea that holy people don’t steal or commit sins. All in all, Voltaire paints a very negative picture of religion and those that practice it.
Q: Discuss the philosophy of optimism as personified by Pangloss.
ReplyDeleteA: The philosopher Pangloss believes in and exemplifies the philosophy of optimism. The elder philosopher strongly asserts that "everything is for the best." When Pangloss contracts the disease Syphilis, he attests that it is for the best because that without the sickness, Europe would not have obtained chocolate. "For if Columbus, on an island in the Americas, had not caught this disease...we would have neither chocolate nor cochineal" (Voltaire 10).
The philosopher preaches that "...everything having been made for a purpose, everything is necessarily for the best purpose. Observe how noses were made to bear spectacles..." (Voltaire 2). Pangloss exemplifies the optimistic perspective and finds the best in situations.
It's pretty obvious to see in Candide that Voltaire disdains the act of war. Although in the beginning of chapter 3, the battle is described as, "-splendid, brilliant, smart" (22)we see irony in the fact that girls are "-disembowled after satisfying the natural needs of several heroes" (23). The juxtaposition of the carnage and violence with the words "natural needs" and "heroes" seems to mock the glorified idea of war. The extreme descriptions of "brains and severed arms and legs" (23) also show the distaste that Voltaire has towards bloodshed.
ReplyDeleteWhat is Voltaire's attitude towards war?
ReplyDeleteVoltaire makes his hatred of war very obvious in Candide. Through the detached narrator's ironic comments, a reader can easily tell that Voltaire views warfare as uselessly violent. Candide's impressive adeptness at learning drills earns him a few less whippings each day instead of genuine respect. The conquerors' "heroic butchery" brings to light statement of contradictory ideas. Later, when Pangloss laments the fate of their castle, he finds solace in the fact that the enemy got the same treatment. To the reader this is a very senseless declaration, one that echoes Voltaire's entire view of warfare as a meaningless show of brutish violence.
Lauren Wood
ReplyDeleteFor my response I chose, “To what extent is Candide a pawn of fate? What effect do his decisions have on his fate?”
I would say that Candide is only a pawn of fate when he takes thing for granted, for example, Candide lives a fairly lavish lifestyle at the Baron’s castle and ruins it when he kisses Cunegonde. He takes his lifestyle for granted; he should have realized he could never marry her, “because he could prove only seventy-one generations of nobility” (Voltaire 17) which should have been enough for him to stay away. Instead he ignores this and gets kicked out of the castle. Fate punishes Candide for taking the things that he was blessed with for granted by putting him through ridiculous, horrible situations. It would seem that once Candide has had enough punishment fate will give him another chance to have the ideal life. This second chance comes when he arrives in El Dorado, a place where, “We have nothing to ask of God: He’s given us everything we need. We constantly thank him” (Voltaire 67), the ultimate utopia. Candide once again ruins the great life that fate has brought him by deciding to leave to get Cunegonde. Because of this decision, Candide goes through another series of unfortunate events. Candide never realizes that he brings the misfortune upon himself because of his desire to be with Cunegonde, the woman he is not meant to be with.
Dicuss Voltaire's portrait of religious figures in Candide:
ReplyDeleteThroughout Candide, Voltaire expresses his religious standpoint. He begins the book by saying that God is perfect and that this must be the best of all worlds since God is perfect, he made a perfect world. However, as the novel progresses, Voltaire clearly develops a different view. His view changes from hopeful to depressing. "Pangloss deceived me cruelly when he said that all is for the best in the world" (Ch.7). THis qoute expresses the changing views of the characters has the story moves on. Another quote that proves this is, "If this is the best of all possible worlds, whats are the others like?" (ch.6) At this point in the eighteenth century, Voltaire was very angry at the world when he sat down to write this book, he clearly shows his anger in this book with how the world was not turning out like the optimistic society during the eighteenth century had assumed. God plays a key role in Candide, "I confess that when I consider this globe, or rather this globule, I think that God has abandoned it to some evil creature," (ch. 20). Candide cleary expresses Voltaire's views on religion.
Jessica Sands
ReplyDeletePangloss himself is a very ironic character. One of the most ironic things about him is that he is considered "the greatest philosopher of the whole province, and consequently of the whole world". At the begginning of the novel he has everyone including Candide and Cunegonde convinced that his philosophy that everything happens for a bigger purpose and that we can only see small parts of gods huge master plan. Candide, his student, goes through the entire novel believing this and using small strokes of luck to make up for a multitude of bad experiences, fully believing that all is for the best. When Candide is finally reunited with Pangloss at the end of the novel he finds out that his mentor does not still believe what he has lived his life teaching but will stick by it because "[he] his a philosopher, and it would wouldn't be proper for [him] to recant" (Voltaire,114). This admission that his idol has given up what he most believes in sends Candide spiraling and he no longer knows what to think. It is ironic that he is considered one of the worlds greatest philosophers, because after putting his lifes work to the test he finds that he could not have been further from the truth.
I thought the idea of philisophical optimism came up most often in the book, and was the main focus. Every possible horrific situation that occurs in the story (which are many) Pangloss and the others believe it to be all for the best! It's quite ridiculous, especially in the Earthquake and Syphillas ordeal! "For all this is the best there is. If the volcanic activity is in Lisbon, it means it could not have been anywhere else. For it is impossible for things not to be where they are. for all is well." (p 13) When Pangloss says that syphilis needed to be spread from American to Europe, so the europeans could enjoy things like chocolate was completely ridiculous! The optimism was taken to another level and it was just a joke.
ReplyDeleteI believe Candide was to a very small extent a pawn of fate. What Voltaire was trying to say throughout the book was that stuff happens, but what you do to change your life is what matters. For the majority of the book things just happened to Candied, and he did nothing to stop or change them. It was not until the end of the book, with the help of the farmer, that Candide realized that only the things that you do can make you happy. In the words of the farmer "I have but twenty acres, I cultivate them with my children. Work keeps us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need." It was then that Candide saw that the only person that can change your life for the better is yourself.
ReplyDeleteSymposium Theme: Who ultimately suffers more-Candide or Cunegonde? What comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in the novel?
ReplyDeleteThough both characters suffer through great ordeals testing both their physical and emotional state, Cunegonde is the one that truly suffers more. Throughout the novel, Voltaire writes of woman often being taken advantage of by men. For example when the old woman meets a man that offers to take her with him to Italy, he tricks her and as she recalls, “Instead of taking me back to Italy, he took me to Algiers and sold me to the dey of that province,” (47). Unlike Candide, Cunegonde is owned by several men such as the Inquisitor who treat her like an object instead of a human being. Cunegonde’s brother even controls her life by claiming Candide is unfit for marriage to her because he can only trace back “72” generations. By the end of the satire, one can see how the misfortunes of rape, possession, and uncertainty throughout Cunegonde’s life has left her, “weathered face, bloodshot eyes, withered breasts, wrinkled cheeks and red, scaly arms” (115). Candide does not have any of these characteristics at the end, and is even shocked when he sees Cunegonde in this condition. Though Candide is severely mistreated, he is much better off being a man, and interestingly, Voltaire uses irony to question this bias when Cacambo claims, “Women always manage to find something to do with themselves; God looks after them,” (52). Cunegonde may have been swept from place to place, but it was what occurred during these instances that she was mistreated more than man.
"Who ultimately suffers more--Candide or Cunegonde? What comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in the novel?"
ReplyDeleteBoth Candide and Cunegonde suffer very much, but they suffer in two different ways. Candide suffers a lot of physical pain, from being literally kicked out of the castle to being whipped by the Bulgars and the Grand Inquisitor's men. Candide doesn't let these events hurt him, though, because he keeps his optimism. He says, "All is well, everything is going well, things are going as well as they possibly can" (Voltaire 93). Due to this optimism, the physical beatings don't really hurt Candide. On the other hand, Cunegonde suffers a lot of emotional pain because she is passed from man to man as a sexual object. In contrast to Candide, Cunegonde gives up her hope, saying, "But I've had such horrible misfortunes in my world that my heart is nearly closed to hope" (Voltaire 41). Her despair makes her ultimately suffer more than Candide. Voltaire seems to be pointing out that when men suffer, they have the tools to better their situation and hold out hope, but women are used badly by men, so women have little control over their own suffering.
-What is the importance of travel in Candide?
ReplyDeleteI believe that every time the characters travel, it is to excape something bad and to try and find the good in the world. "'We're going to another world' Candide would say. 'I expect it must be there that all is well. For you have to admit, one could grumble rather at what goes on in our one, both phisically and morally'" (Voltaire 23). Candide's optimistic veiw leads him to beleve that if there is something bad in one place it cant be anywhere else, and when the characters go to another place to find the good it ends up being bad anyway.
Im going to talk about how ironic the statement “the greatest philosopher of the whole province, and consequently of the whole world” is about Pangloss. Candide belives that every philosopher that says something different is wrong and Pangloss is always right. But Candide is not able to see how everything that Pangloss says is for the best when everything is really based on choice. Like when the Anabaptist fell into the harbor, Candide was going to help him back into the ship but Pangloss is the first to stop him. “Pangloss the philosopher stopped him by proving to him the Lisbon harbor was formed expressly for the Anabaptist to drown in” (Voltaire 12). So the statement is ironic because everything Pangloss says that is for the best reawlly isnt for the best, its more of if your willing to change things yourself.
ReplyDeleteTo what extent is Candide a pawn of fate? What effects do his own decisions have on his fate?
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion all of the actions Candide took had a direct effect on what happened to him (usually bad).
For example, when Cacamboo and Candide went to that strange country in chapter 16, they saw two naked women running through the streets with money's bitting at their ankles. Candide then jumped to conclussions and thought that they were being attacked and took out his gun and shot the two monkey's dead. The two women then fell to the ground crying. Candide then realized that he had shot the loves of their lives. "My dear master," replied Cacamboo, "you're always surprised by everything. Why do you find it so strange that in some countries there should be monkey's that enjoy the favor of ladies?"
Another example is in the beginning when he was near death,two men from the Bulgar army took him in and gave him money and food but in return, he had to serve in their army. He agreed to do so. Once he was back to good health he decided he want to go on a walk out of free will but four men in the army thought he was trying to escape. They took him back to the king and he gave him the choice of 12 bullets to the brain or 36 runs through the gauntlet. he chose to run the gauntlet.
Overall, his choices directly influenced his fate in the end.
I am choosing to do the discussion question, "Describe the charater of Candide as a hero. What qualities has Voltaire given him that make him suitable for conveying the author's irony and satirical purpose? Are they any similar heros that you recall from other books, plays, or films?
ReplyDeleteI think that Voltaire giving Candide the gulable, innocent little kid qualities helps portray the satirical purpose of the adventure hero well, because the typical adventure hero is knowledgable, and strong and Candide is not. In fact at times he's kind of a baby.
For instence when Candide and Cacumbo must leave Cunégonde Candide almost cries becuase he doesn't want to, "Where are you taking me? Where are we going? What will we do with out Cunégonde?" Candide is anything but an adventure hero
Even when he tries to be a hero he fails. when he thought that the two women were being cahsed by monkeys he tried to save them but instead he killed their mates.
Candide remindes me of Chuck fron the NBC show Chuck. He is just an average guy thrown into adventure and clearly he isn't the typical hero, he's clumsy, and he too cries sometimes. Candide and Chuck are almost one in the same.
Although Candide is a satire, I also view it as a parody of a hero's adventure. The book as a whole contains many components to a hero's adventure. They start out in a grand palace, then make there way to Lisbon and from there hop on a boat to The New World, Cadiz, Paris, and many other places. Not only do they travel to new and different places, but they also journey to El Dorado, a mythical land made of gold where everyone is content.
ReplyDeleteThe characters in Candide also mirror those of a hero's adventure. We have the hero (Candide), the damsel in distress (Cunegonde), the mentor (Pangloss), the sidekick (Martin/Cacambo), as well as all of the enemies they meet along the way.
Other elements that aid to being a parody would be the long-winded names that different things take; such as Thunder-ten-tronckh or metaphysico-theologico-cosmo-codology.
Also, the general plot of Candide act as an exaggeration of a hero's adventure. Candide goes through an extreme amount of ups and downs, more than that of a normal hero. He was kicked out Thunder-ten-tronckh, then accepted into the Bulgar army, then was mistaken as a prisoner of war, then was sent through the gauntlet; all within the first three pages of the book.
Karissa Beilke
ReplyDeleteQ: How are Cacambo and Martin effective foils for Candide? What can we learn about Candide from his traveling companions?
A: A foil character is a character that reveals differences between themselves and the main character whom they are the foil to. Cacambo is very good foil for Candide because he helps to reveal Candide’s indecisive personality as well as his inability to be self-dependent. Although Cacambo never directly comes out and says that he opposes Candide’s idea of optimism, there are subtle hints that Cacambo doesn’t agree with him. “What is optimism?” (Voltaire 73). Martin is a Manichean meaning that he believes good and evil are fighting an eternal battle. The differences between Candide and Martin can be seen very clearly when they make the bet about whether or not the couple they see in the park is truly happy or not. From his companions, the reader can deduct that Candide is (in the beginning of the story), incapable of deciding things for himself and is not self-reliant.
Kelsey M
ReplyDeleteQ:Who ultimately suffers more--Candide or Cunegonde? What comments on the roles of the sexes does Voltaire seem to be making in the novel?
A: I know that this question has been answered before in previous posts, but I really like this answer and there are so many possible ways to answer the question. But, in my opinion, Cunegonde suffered more, simply because it felt like she was aware of what was going on with her compared to Candide, who had his faith and optimism to fall back upon. Cunegonde however, processes and understands all that is happening to her, because, she not only experiences physical trauma, but emotional as well. Plus, Candide is left in nearly the same condition as he was to begin with, if not a little more wise. But, Cunegonde is left with, "a weathered face, bloodshot eyes, withered breasts, wrinkled cheeks and red, scaly arms” (115). Which shows how much pain and suffering that she had to go through.
Duncan G
ReplyDeletePangloss's optimistic view on life is that God created the world in his image and everything that happens is for the best, God meant it to happen. God is the good and the evil of the world. Pangloss creates nonsense reasons for why things happened. When he gets syphillis he says that if sypyllus wasn't created, there wouldn't be any chocolate. his view contradicts the world he is living in. The world is a cruel place, as seen by Candide's adventure. Candide is robbed, flogged and witnesses many deaths. This helps us see how foolish the optimism is.
Who suffers more; Candide or Cunegode?
ReplyDeleteI believe out of the two of the Cunegonde suffer more. Throughtout the novel Candide seems very niave and never really understands what is happening to him and others around him. It affects him less emotionally and by the end of the book he is physically fine. However, Cunegonde seems very awear throughtout the story and brings her emotional and physical suffering throughout the book all the way to the end where she is left bloodshot, scaly, and old. She was also very awear of what was happening and keeps her past with her through everything she does. She is haunted.
Cadie Engelking
ReplyDeleteQ: What is Voltaire’s attitude toward the brutality of army life?
A: In Candide there are a few parts where the Bulgarian Army is shown as brutal, particularly in the beginning of the book in these scenes it can show how Voltaire's attitude is towards the army/war. It states that Candide had to suffer from abuse in the army. A simple thing like going out for a walk in the morning got Candide in big trouble with the military. When four soldiers captured him he was called out as a deserter and is given a choice between execution and going through a gauntlet. There was too much punishment for such a small wrong. I think Voltaire uses this as an example of how he feels negatively about the war/army because it’s overly done violence and ignorance.
"How would you compare Voltaire's outlook on human suffering with the views expressed in our time on the same issues by political leaders, writers, social activists, and the media?"
ReplyDeleteI think a lot has changed from Voltaire's time to our time. While a dominant view in Voltaire's time was that all was for the best and all the bad things that were happening were happening because God wanted them to, this is not such a dominant view today. With the exception of one prominent religious figure, who said that Haiti's earthquake was the result of the country's "deal with the devil," the world has overwhelmingly offered whatever kind of support they could to the country of Haiti, rather than try to blame the earthquake on things that have angered God as they did with the Earthquake in Lisbon.
Symposium Topic: What significance do the events in Surinam have on Candide's development?
ReplyDeleteHis views of the world has changed. He thinks of it as disgraceful and wicked now. Then, when had went to the Magistrate for help and he didn't give him help, he was even more upset. "'Alas!' he lamented, 'that's just the kind of dirty trick you'd expect from the old world.' (Voltaire 56)" Voltaire tells us that Candide is sick of the treatment he is given. "This treatment was the last straw for Candide in his despair. (Voltaire 56)."
Who suffers more: Candide or Conegonde?
ReplyDeleteHonestly, while both suffer a great deal, it's Conegonde who goes through the most. Yeah, while being flogged thousands of times is painful, it might be a little easier to get over mentally than being raped and then being handed around to a myriad of other men. Also, Candide was so dumb. It's ridiculous. Conegonde at least had SOME idea of what was going on. Unlike Candide, she really didn't have anything to fall back on, so she never truly lived in a delusional world. And in the end, Candide got to keep his looks, and the beautiful Conegonde lost hers, making her just like the wonderfully profane old woman.