On my first glance at Candide I was completely lost since I knew so little about Voltaire and the historical events that took place during the time the novel was written, because of this I decided to do a little research on background information to be able to fully comprehend the story and the message behind it. Initially I searched for the time the book was published which I found to be in 1759; as of there I began making connections from which I derived that the Enlightenment was taking place. This movement consisted of the rebirth of all aspects of society were new philosophies arose as well as new religious, economical and political theories. Voltaire took great part in this moment in time since he came up with controversial theories that defied the traditional believes of society and proposed a reform on the relationships between Church and State.
Based on this I reread the first three chapters and was able to find an ironic and satirical mood which immediately reminded me of The Crying of Lot 49. Voltaire as well as Pynchon used a sarcastic allegory to represent his ideals and ridicule the institutions of the time. Both authors recurred to the characters names as a form of mockery. Pynchon for instance, named his characters after their absurd personalities such as Mr. Hilarius the psychologist or Mr. Rosemann the lawyer which acted contrary to how they were expected to behave. Voltaire also used name placing to transmit how he felt about the characters; inclusively he named the Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh, which is an unserious and primitive word to demoralize the aristocratic family’s pride. I also related the name placing to Gulliver’s Travels in which random letters that come close to being unpronounceable are used. On Gulliver’s Travels we find words such as the Houyhnhnms or Lhnuwnh and on Candide we find the town of Wald-berghoff-trarbkdikdorff.
Throughout the novel I perceived Voltaire’s disgust towards certain organizations established during his time and I found it very interesting to see his way of criticizing them. On the beginning of the novel we can clearly see his intentions of undermining the aristocracy and nobles. “The old servants of the house suspected him to have been the son of the Baron's sister, by a very good sort of a gentleman of the neighborhood, whom that young lady refused to marry, because he could produce no more than threescore and eleven quarterings in his arms; the rest of the genealogical tree belonging to the family having been lost through the injuries of time.” (Chapter 1) This just comes to show the superficiality of nobility given that the baron’s sister, as stated above, refused to marry Candide’s father based on the amount of quarterings in his arms, this demonstrates that ancestry and distinctions were farther more important when it came to marriage than true love. Voltaire also mocks the aristocracy when mentioning “The Baron was one of the most powerful lords in Westphalia, for his castle had not only a gate, but even windows…” (Chapter 1) When emphasizing on the fact that the lord was powerful because his castle not only had gates but also windows he is stressing a ridiculous idea and mocking the baron’s power. It is expected that every castle, inclusively any house would have windows, therefore Voltaire is mocking the barons power reflected on his belongings and the lack of real authority he possesses.
Voltaire also mocks philosophers by means of Pangloss which is set of to be Candide’s wise advisor and mentor. He supposedly is a clever and “…the greatest philosopher of the whole province, and consequently of the whole world.” (Chapter 2) One of Pangloss major philosophies consists on the fact that the world was created by God, a perfect being, therefore everything that composes it and that happens in it is for a further purpose that makes part of Gods plan for the planet. I consider as Voltaire this to be a ridiculous theory based upon the imperfections that we find on a daily basis. Why would a perfect God create so much suffering, wars and poverty? Could there really be a purpose for it? Pangloss principles and teachings made me think of Candide as a vulnerable and ignorant kid. For his entire life he has been raised in a palace which walls protect him from the world’s truth, he has no experience and only learns what his master, Pangloss teaches him.
As soon as he is expelled from the castle for kissing the barons daughter, Candide begins to experience lives reality and all the miseries it is made up. For instance on his first adventures when he is banished from Westphalia. As soon as he is kicked out he travels to the next town where he is saved from death by two men who offer him food and drinks. Unfortunately he is later pushed to join the King of the Bulgar’s army where he witnesses torment and anguish. He later lives through it as “he was asked which he liked better, to run the gauntlet six and thirty times through the whole regiment, or to have his brains blown out with a dozen musket-balls?” (Chapter 2)
Based on this I reread the first three chapters and was able to find an ironic and satirical mood which immediately reminded me of The Crying of Lot 49. Voltaire as well as Pynchon used a sarcastic allegory to represent his ideals and ridicule the institutions of the time. Both authors recurred to the characters names as a form of mockery. Pynchon for instance, named his characters after their absurd personalities such as Mr. Hilarius the psychologist or Mr. Rosemann the lawyer which acted contrary to how they were expected to behave. Voltaire also used name placing to transmit how he felt about the characters; inclusively he named the Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh, which is an unserious and primitive word to demoralize the aristocratic family’s pride. I also related the name placing to Gulliver’s Travels in which random letters that come close to being unpronounceable are used. On Gulliver’s Travels we find words such as the Houyhnhnms or Lhnuwnh and on Candide we find the town of Wald-berghoff-trarbkdikdorff.
Throughout the novel I perceived Voltaire’s disgust towards certain organizations established during his time and I found it very interesting to see his way of criticizing them. On the beginning of the novel we can clearly see his intentions of undermining the aristocracy and nobles. “The old servants of the house suspected him to have been the son of the Baron's sister, by a very good sort of a gentleman of the neighborhood, whom that young lady refused to marry, because he could produce no more than threescore and eleven quarterings in his arms; the rest of the genealogical tree belonging to the family having been lost through the injuries of time.” (Chapter 1) This just comes to show the superficiality of nobility given that the baron’s sister, as stated above, refused to marry Candide’s father based on the amount of quarterings in his arms, this demonstrates that ancestry and distinctions were farther more important when it came to marriage than true love. Voltaire also mocks the aristocracy when mentioning “The Baron was one of the most powerful lords in Westphalia, for his castle had not only a gate, but even windows…” (Chapter 1) When emphasizing on the fact that the lord was powerful because his castle not only had gates but also windows he is stressing a ridiculous idea and mocking the baron’s power. It is expected that every castle, inclusively any house would have windows, therefore Voltaire is mocking the barons power reflected on his belongings and the lack of real authority he possesses.
Voltaire also mocks philosophers by means of Pangloss which is set of to be Candide’s wise advisor and mentor. He supposedly is a clever and “…the greatest philosopher of the whole province, and consequently of the whole world.” (Chapter 2) One of Pangloss major philosophies consists on the fact that the world was created by God, a perfect being, therefore everything that composes it and that happens in it is for a further purpose that makes part of Gods plan for the planet. I consider as Voltaire this to be a ridiculous theory based upon the imperfections that we find on a daily basis. Why would a perfect God create so much suffering, wars and poverty? Could there really be a purpose for it? Pangloss principles and teachings made me think of Candide as a vulnerable and ignorant kid. For his entire life he has been raised in a palace which walls protect him from the world’s truth, he has no experience and only learns what his master, Pangloss teaches him.
As soon as he is expelled from the castle for kissing the barons daughter, Candide begins to experience lives reality and all the miseries it is made up. For instance on his first adventures when he is banished from Westphalia. As soon as he is kicked out he travels to the next town where he is saved from death by two men who offer him food and drinks. Unfortunately he is later pushed to join the King of the Bulgar’s army where he witnesses torment and anguish. He later lives through it as “he was asked which he liked better, to run the gauntlet six and thirty times through the whole regiment, or to have his brains blown out with a dozen musket-balls?” (Chapter 2)
The last character of this section completely surprised me due to the fact that unlike all the others characters he was truly a generous being. James the Anabaptist was indeed so kind that after all the suffering that Candide went through he still was convinced of Pangloss theory, “Candide, penetrated with so much goodness, threw himself at his feet, crying, "Now I am convinced that my Master Pangloss told me truth when he said that everything was for the best in this world; for I am infinitely more affected with your extraordinary generosity than with the inhumanity of that gentleman in the black cloak and his wife." (Chapter 3) Once again this sentence brings us back to Voltaire constant mocking, in this occasion I believe he is doing so to religion. James was a Anabaptist therefore he was not catholic, but still he was able to be a generous human being asking for nothing in return. Besides of this the “inhumanity of that gentlemen in the black cloak” reminded me instantly of a priest, thus insinuating the cruelty of a priest, supposedly a sacred being.
2 comments:
I was going to point out the many mistakes you made in this write-up but I checked the date and realized that by now you are probably done with college, and hopefully took a European history class and learnt stuff like how Pangloss is an allegory for Liebniz....wow...wonder if you still read this
I was going to point out the many mistakes you made in this write-up but I checked the date and realized that by now you are probably done with college, and hopefully took a European history class and learnt stuff like how Pangloss is an allegory for Liebniz....wow...wonder if you still read this
Post a Comment