Week 4 Analysis
Literary Elements of Voltaire (352-373)
Candide, the main character of the story, is a young man who is filled with optimism but was dependent and unable to think for himself. He tried to see the good in the world, even when it was bad. His character stood out to me because he's an innocent character and used optimism to justify all the misery that went on in his life. Candide went through a lot of suffering events and still managed to gain his faith back in Pangloss' theory when he says, "Master Pangloss was right indeed when he told me everything is for the best in this world," until the very end of the story when a farmer gives him another theory to believe (359). It seemed like Candide was an extremely naive man because of his misfortunes. He was kicked out from his adopted home and traveled the world but came across a variety of misfortunes. Because of his good-heart and honesty, he is very appealing to readers and has us feel sympathy for him. The theme of the story is "everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." I believe the point is to mock the optimistic characters when they believe a perfect-like God and world where harm can be no done, so when an optimistic character, like Candide, deals with these imperfections, it confuses him. When he goes through these horrors that serve no good, it only points out the cruelty and reality of humanity in the world. According to Pangloss and Candide, any evil that went on in the world would mean it was a sign that God is neither good or powerful enough and this idea was something they did not believe in; therefore, they overly granted God's existence and believed that God must be perfect. Because God was perfect to them, the world he created must have been absolutely perfect as well. When something horrific happened, they thought it was because that was God's plan so it was supposed to happen and be that way. And because Voltaire disagrees with this idea, he mocks these characters and puts them through a world that must be "perfect" when in reality, he puts them through hell to show that he does not accept that a perfect God or world exists. Voltaire connects this element throughout his novel with the misfortunes Candide goes through.
Candide, the main character of the story, is a young man who is filled with optimism but was dependent and unable to think for himself. He tried to see the good in the world, even when it was bad. His character stood out to me because he's an innocent character and used optimism to justify all the misery that went on in his life. Candide went through a lot of suffering events and still managed to gain his faith back in Pangloss' theory when he says, "Master Pangloss was right indeed when he told me everything is for the best in this world," until the very end of the story when a farmer gives him another theory to believe (359). It seemed like Candide was an extremely naive man because of his misfortunes. He was kicked out from his adopted home and traveled the world but came across a variety of misfortunes. Because of his good-heart and honesty, he is very appealing to readers and has us feel sympathy for him. The theme of the story is "everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." I believe the point is to mock the optimistic characters when they believe a perfect-like God and world where harm can be no done, so when an optimistic character, like Candide, deals with these imperfections, it confuses him. When he goes through these horrors that serve no good, it only points out the cruelty and reality of humanity in the world. According to Pangloss and Candide, any evil that went on in the world would mean it was a sign that God is neither good or powerful enough and this idea was something they did not believe in; therefore, they overly granted God's existence and believed that God must be perfect. Because God was perfect to them, the world he created must have been absolutely perfect as well. When something horrific happened, they thought it was because that was God's plan so it was supposed to happen and be that way. And because Voltaire disagrees with this idea, he mocks these characters and puts them through a world that must be "perfect" when in reality, he puts them through hell to show that he does not accept that a perfect God or world exists. Voltaire connects this element throughout his novel with the misfortunes Candide goes through.
Great Analysis Alissa. I love how you pointed how that Candide, being naïve, made readers more sympathetic then judgmental to his foolish rationale. He is incapable of thinking for himself because of his loyalty to Dr. Pangloss teachings. With knowing that Voltaire was not an atheist, do you think he was trying to say that God is perfect, but that people must take responsibility to the choices they make? That it’s not just a cause and effect and must be the way God meant it to be. But that your decisions have consequences. Like Dr. Pangloss sleeping with a maid that he knows have slept with other men is why he got the disease not because God wanted him to have it. Your last two lines were so powerful. He puts them through a world that must be perfect, but really puts them to hell to make his point. You analysis is a great read, Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed you analysis Alissa. I thought it was a little crazy that Candide went back to Pangloss's theory even when he went through a period of bad things happening. This is where I saw him being naive. I see why you saying him being naive could make the reader feel judgmental towards him.
ReplyDeleteThis is an excellent analysis of Voltaire that helps me understand the story and it becomes clear. Thinking about the theme of basically everything happens for the best was new for me and really clears up the focus of the story. Also you did a great job of explaining why readers would connect with this character a skill that I shall add to my arsenal when writing.
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