The Best of all Possible Worlds?

Wow, Voltaire certainly crams a lot of information and philosophical pondering into such a short novel.

 In my last post, when I still had a bout 30 pages left in the book, I started to think and organize my ideas about theme. It cannot be overlooked that Candide's name in French, Voltaire's native language and the language in which the novel was originally written means "naive". But as I think more about it, Dr. Pangloss seems to be more naive than Candide as characters, especially as they react to the changes they experience throughout the novel. Through some searching online about the etymology of "pangloss", I ended up on a psychology wiki that gives two translations of the two parts of the name : "pan-" and "gloss". "Pan-" is always translated as a prefix from Greek meaning "all", but "gloss" differs. It means language, but the etymologist who wrote the wiki says that it could also mean tongue (in it's linguistic terms). I know that in Spanish, the word "idioma" (meaning language) and "lengua" (meaning tongue) are sometimes used interchangeably. Since Spanish and French are both romance languages that are deeply rooted in Latin and that developed in similar geographic regions (separated only by the Pyrenees), that Voltaire could have meant for Pangloss' name to mean "all tongue", or someone who speaks a lot and before really thinking about what they're saying. This whole etymology of names is another angle from which I started thinking about theme and organizing my thoughts.

But, without finishing the novel, I could never arrive at the theme Voltaire hints at the entire time: Philosophical inquiry passes the time, but is ultimately worthless in the application to real life. For example, Martin and Candide discuss man's nature and purpose throughout their various journeys on boat throughout Europe, but those discussions don't help them reach their goal. They have an argument about the state of other people's happiness while in Venice. Candide still partially subscribes to Pangloss' school of philosophy that god is great and perfect and because of that fact, created for humans ,"the best of all possible worlds". Martin, though, is much more pessimistic as has received a fair amount of persecution in his life because of it. To test out each other's arguments in their friendly quarrel, they dine with the most wealthy and most powerful senator in all of Venice. Candide tried to talk to the senator about the huge collections of books in his private library, but the senator dismisses each one Candide mentions as useless of insipid in its own way. Candide comments on the beauty of the senator's garden but the senator replies that is is ugly and childish. Though going out and testing their philosophical theories may be entertaining, it doesn't get Martin or Candide any closer to finding Cacumbo and Cunegonde, their ultimate goal; it passes the time but is of no use.

Eventually, after all of our major players are reunited and living on a farm together near Constantinople, the philosophical combatants go to the home of the best philosopher in al of Turkey. Pangloss serves as the group's spokesperson and asks, "Master, we've come to beg you to tell us why so strange an animal as man has been created". The Turk then asks the group why they even "trouble their head[s] about it". Candide then becomes a bit upset, and tell the dervish, "But my reverend father, there is a horrible deal of evil on this earth", to which the dervish replies, "why does it matter". Pangloss then starts to ask about his theory of "the best of all possible worlds" and the Turk closes the door in their faces.

On the way back to their farm, though, they encounter a simple farmer. He leads a good and fulfilling life tending his land with his 4 children and selling their goods in Constantinople but who cares little of the political happenings of the city. As Candide comments on the land plot of the farmer, he simply replies that "I have no more than twenty acres of grounds, the whole of which I cultivate with the help of my children, and our labor keeps us from three great evils-- boredom, vice, and want". Candide reflects on what the farmer said as they all walk back to their farm and, as Pangloss tries to engage him in yet another philosophical discussion, simply says "Excellently observed, but we must cultivate our garden". With this, the last line of the novel, Candide has learned that while philosophical inquiries are well and good, they don't solve your problems or accomplish for you what needs to be accomplished.        
I did my best to focus on the details of this novel, as it seems all the writers we've read who comment on close reading have mentioned, and folded down pages and wrote myself little reminders in my copy of the book taking specific notes of them. In short, I have become a much more detail oriented reader. I kept in mind my list of good reader's qualities, though I felt like this was a novel more about the big picture because it included so few details of specific events.

I would highly recommend Candide because it a short but very meaningful work of literature that we can all connect to, in addition to being beautifully written and rich with interesting historical references.

What a Journey

So much happens in so little time in this novel that it is hard to even orient myself. Candide becomes separated form the Old Woman and Ms. Cunegonde after his murder of the Grand Inquisitor and the jew catch up to him in the new world. In fact, Candide does so much traveling around the world that I looked up various maps of his journey so I can keep everything straight.

I am very surprised at Candide (and Volatile's) attitude toward the native people of the Americas. When Cacumbo (Candide's new friend who is part Spanish and part native American) and Candide arrive in the isolated kingdom of El Dorado in what we as readers can assume is in present day Peru, they are greeted with absolute kindness. The roads there are paved with what Europeans would consider to be precious stones and though the natives laugh a little, they allow Candide and Cacumbo to take as many of the stones as they can carry back to Europe with them in efforts to become rich. In addition, the native peoples of the americas are portrayed as very mathematically advanced. Their kingdom is an oasis surrounded by mountains (probably the Peruvian Andes) and the king has his scientists and mathematicians design and build a catapult to fling Candide and Cucumbo over them. The two travelers also encounter a more nomadic tribe of native peoples, who happen to be cannibals, but who think with reason and logic and end up showing kindness to the Europeans. This is an unusual point of view for a European of Voltaire's time period to take and it has me wondering why and how Voltaire was so forward thinking for his time.

With their newfound riches, Candide and Cacumbo hope to travel back and find Ms. Cunegonde, who has been taken by a military official in Buenos Aires to be wed, and buy her freedom. Candide hopes that, once Cunegonde is free, that he will finally be able to marry her (which is creepy because they are half-siblings). Based on what I know of Voltaire and the novel, I'm predicting that this plan will go rather less well than Candide is hoping. For all I know, Cunegonde could be dead already, which actually wouldn't be very surprising. This whole thing has me pondering about the theme of the novel, too. I know the general idea that Voltaire is hinting at about human optimism not lining up very accurately with human reality. I know that after a series of repetitive hardships, Candide will start to seriously doubt what Dr. Pangloss taught him back in Westphalia about living in the "best of all possible worlds". But, what exactly is Voltaire specifically saying about this phenomenon and how it relates to human nature as a whole? I guess I'll have to keep reading.

Stories of the Past

Structurally, I've noticed that Candide is very choppy. There are tons of chapters and each is only a few pages long. I've been wondering as I read why Voltaire has chosen to organize the novel this way. Is it a kind of thematic separation? Is there a pattern? All the poetic work we've been doing in class had got me wondering about separation serving a purpose. Voltaire was a well educated guy, I think there's little chance that he just made chapters end and begin at his whim. The book is also very shy of any kind of flowery detail. It almost seems as though it is an overview (maybe a sort of lengthy sparknotes) of some other story. Singular moments are never described, just happenings or events. Feelings of characters are rarely recounted to the reader by the third person narrator. But, when we as readers learn about the old woman and Ms Cunegonde's past, they are told in third person. There are no quotation marks or anything having to do with punctuation to indicate to us that it is them speaking either directly to us or to Candide but we infer. Why doesn't Voltaire keep a consistent point of view? What is added to the story that we are hearing the old woman and Ms Cunegonde's stories of their pasts through what we can assume are their own words?  Maybe the purpose of concise chapters and descriptions as well as that of a momentary shift to first person will reveal itself as I read on.

 I also find the novel to line up perfectly with my current studying of European history. We learn of an inquisitor who takes Ms. Cunegonde as a kind of sexual hostage, which makes sense because it seems as though Voltaire is writing of a time period slightly earlier than his own, perhaps during the religious and thirty years' war. This makes sense, because in the exposition, Voltaire establishes that the castle in which Candide has grown up is in fact in Westphalia. The thirty years' war was essentially all of Europe fighting for the German states' religion (Sweden, France, etc for the protestants and Spain, the Holy Roman Empire, Wallenstein, etc for the Catholics). Ms. Cunegonde is raped and beaten by an army of Catholic Bulgarian soldiers, something not very uncommon of the time. The autonomous German states' nobility were stripped of power and possession (even their lives in the case of the baron of Westphalia and Cunegonde's mother) by both armies in their efforts of victory and conquest. After the war's end, the very land and people the war had been about were left poor and devastated an in a state of total economic collapse. In fact, the treaty that brought the thirty years' war to an end was called the Treaty of Westphalia, so through inference, we can deduce that Candide and Cunegonde's homeland was a major point of battle and also totally destroyed. The characters also refer very derogatorily to the Jew who shares Ms Cunegonde with the Grand Inquisitor, which is to be expected of most Western European peoples of this time. My recent learning about this time period in European history has really aided and enhanced my understanding of the story, especially in its historical context.  
 

Entering Candide's World

     Voltaire's Candide centers around a character of the same name. He begins his journey in the castle of a German baron, and is expelled from living there when he is found innocently kissing Mrs. Cunegonde, the baron's daughter, another resident of the castle, behind a curtain. This begs the question: why? Voltaire describes Candide, a boy of probably around seventeen, as being enamored with Cunegonde and later in the story as being in love with her. But, based on the description of the family tree, they're half siblings. Candide is suspected to "have been the son of the baron's sister by a very good sort of gentleman of the neighborhood, whom that young lady refused to marry..." (11). Is this information that Candide and Cunegonde are not aware of? Based on what I know of Voltaire's time(the early to mid 18th century), incest wasn't encouraged  He lived in a Europe that was still strongly christian, and incestuous relationship are frowned upon in Christian scripture. Additionally, later in the story, a man in Portugal is burned at the stake by the Inquisitor for marrying his godmother, which the footnotes of the Barnes and Noble Classic edition says that even god-family was too close to be accepted in this time. So, why does Volataire have the siblings fall in love? What purpose is it serving; some kind of hypocrisy?    
     I was a bit concerned when I first started the book because Voltaire is an esteemed and daunting name in both philosophy and literature.  I was intimidated and feared the writing style might be beyond my comprehension level. Though I know he spent a few years in England while in exile from France, but since Candide was written later in Voltaire's life, I believe it was originally written in French. Maybe it's just a great translation, but the book really flows. Sure, some of the language is a bit antiquated, but even though the book is one giant allegory, the story and plot just flow. It's easy to read and really enjoyable! I think this is the oldest piece of literature that I've read that I think i can say I truly like and get pleasure out of reading. 
   I'm very intrigued by the character of Dr. Pangloss, Cunegonde and Candide's teacher and mentor when they both happily inhabited the castle. He is always (well, before his death at the hands of the Inquisitor, that is) talking about how we live in the "best of all possible worlds". At first, Candide truly believes Dr. Pangloss and shares his optimistic outlook on life. But, as Candide's journey goes on (maybe even a quest like Foster suggests, but I think the jury is out on that one until I finish the book), he starts to loose a bit of his optimism  he experiences the real world as opposed to the one that existed within the baron's castle. This must also be a play on Candide's name, which literally translates from French to be "naive'. Gee, I wonder what Voltaire thinks about optimism...