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| "Candide fled as quickly as possible to another village." Candide witnessed the immense horrors of death in the aftermath of a war between the Bulgars and Abars. |
Voltaire's Candide, a satire following an overly optimistic man—Candide—through continual disasters, was immensely popular. In its first year, 20,000 copies were sold and 17 editions published across Europe. Its humor and criticism on the thoughts and authorities of the time were clearly welcomed by the public. People continue to debate how far the satire extends. Some think Voltaire's conclusion is that philosophy is useless, that to reach contentment you should just work and not think. Others think he merely pretends to be anti-philosophy, coming to the conclusion that you experience things, learn from them, and act on them, actually using philosophy to become active instead of passive and reclusive.
Voltaire's context
Voltaire was himself an active man. He fought (usually through writing and speaking with his powerful friends) against war and religious oppression. His hatred of both is evident throughout Candide, notably when Candide and his tutor, Dr. Pangloss, are severely punished simply for having an opinion on God that differs slightly from the Inquisitor's. Voltaire was after all a deist, believing God didn't influence the current world and that hierarchical religion was absurd.
Voltaire was greatly affected by the abuses of power and hypocrisy of government and religious leaders. In Candide all the characters have their own tragic backstories involving being enslaved, abused, and taken advantage of in one way or another. It seems Voltaire, through his own life events, came to believe that misery is the natural state of humanity; even if things do happen to go well, we then create our own misery. The characters, once they have been reunited and remain without abuse, even fantasize going back to their prior misfortunes over sitting in the contented boredom of their farm.
Still, Voltaire believed we are largely prone to enjoy life. The old lady says, after recounting how miserable her life has been, "I have wanted to kill myself 100 times, but somehow I am still in love with life." Voltaire through Candide comes to the conclusion that there is plenty to love, like candied fruits and pistachio nuts, but that we shouldn't get carried away thinking everything is for the best just because of these pleasantries.
Misery today
A friend and I often find ourselves discussing misery. Usually he claims that everyone is miserable to some extent and has their own tragic backstory, whether they realize it or not. I share this belief to a degree, but I can't help but have a sliver of hope that people can be more happy than miserable. It's hard to stay optimistic at all when there are still hurricanes and earthquakes destroying entire cities and countries, continual mass shootings, overt acts of discrimination, and countless other tragedies and injustices at every corner, and I certainly don't believe that everything is for the best.
Voltaire felt helpless to help the tortured souls in his day, and I feel similarly helpless in mine. Some believe the last line of Candide, "let us go cultivate our garden," is a call to complacency, to isolation from the evils of the world. However, I think the life of the activist Voltaire demonstrates that he would want people to act in whatever capacity they could to fight for what they believe in and give power to the powerless.
Candide fleeing
Source of critical discourse on Candide: BBC
Source of critical discourse on Candide: John Green
I would agree with you that people are not miserable all the time. I also agree with your friend that you could probably ask anyone for a sad story and they would have one. Personally, I am of the opinion that the bitter makes the sweet sweeter and our capacity for joy reflects the depths of despair we have experienced. Because of this, I found it interesting that the characters longed for their troubles when they finally found peace. For me, that period of peace would have to be very very long before I would wish it away.
ReplyDeleteI often find myself leaning towards the more optimistic view that liebniz held, the this is,"the best of all possible worlds". Often times, we cite wars, famines and deplorable conditions in 3rd world countries like in Africa as a sign that God clearly is not good, or this is not the best of all worlds. The people that actually live there however are embracing religion, and especially the church of Jesus Christ of latter say Saints more than any other region right now. This is because with a larger perspective, all the trials, and evil in the world can make more sense. If they can consider themselves as happy, I'm not here to tell them that they are not.
ReplyDeleteI think that perhaps another way to look at this is through comedical commentary. One of the things comedy allows us to do is make fun of and point out problems that under normal circumstances people might not be as receptive to. But as soon as you get someone comfortable and laughing, they are far more likely to continue listening to you. This is done a lot today through popular late night shows, such as the (now ended) Colbert Report, Last week Tonight, and others. I think that Voltaire here was trying to point out some of the logical fallacies in the optimistic viewpoint. It certainly kept me more open to Voltair's point of view than if he had just said that life sucks and we should accept that and quit all this talk about positivity.
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