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.
You do a great job at pulling certain details out of the text and using your knowledge of things like Christianity and European History to create a better understanding. Mr. Stanek would be very proud! The only problem I see here has to do with that constant question of whether or not we should be using our research to make inferences while we read. Nabokov, as we all know, believes that it is trait of a bad reader. However, in this circumstance, it only seems to have a positive affect.
ReplyDeleteI really loved that you took the time to look up the meanings of the names. My best friend is obsessed with etymology and she has been opening my eyes to the significance of names. It’s a very interesting way to learn about a character. It was also great to read about the effect our class has had on your reading. You wrote, in the second post, “All the poetic work we've been doing in class had got me wondering about separation serving a purpose.” This is something that you should definitely bring up during your quarter reading conference, it shows that you are becoming more open-minded when you read, and are able to notice significant things about text that you wouldn’t have before senior year.
I agree that the name “Voltaire” is an extremely intimidating one, and I know it would have put me off a bit if I had been presented with the chance to read the book. But you’re explanation of the story made it seem much more attractive as a novel. It seems dark, but very intriguing. Plus it isn’t too long, so I will definitely consider reading during our next quarter or the ones that follow.
I think your blog did a really good job of analyzing Voltaire’s purpose in his writing while not giving away the plot. Your first post does a really good job of explaining the beginning of the novel while doing more than just summarizing. I liked when you talked about how approaching an older, classic novel can be intimidating as I often feel the same way. Knowing that this older book is not of that impossible to read, choppy sort is really important. Maybe now I'll chose it for my next quarter independent reading. I am with you in exploring the question, why does Voltaire have two half-sibling fall in love? The points that you come up with in exploring this question are very interesting. In midst of a Christian England, would Voltaire pair together these siblings just for controversy? Or was it something else, a different type of statement that he was trying to make.
ReplyDeleteIn the next post, as you talk about the structure of the book, I really liked your word choice and the way that you connected what you were reading about in the book to your history class. I think when a book connects with something you are learning about or are interested in, it always makes it seem ten times more enjoyable. Its like you are adding a whole nother level to the story. I am intrigued as well by the positive attitude of Voltaire towards Native Americans. I would not expect that from Europeans as early as this story is set.
The final theme that you reached in coming to the end of the novel is very interesting. The idea that philosophical inquiry is ultimately worthless is somewhat surprising but also logical. The most ironic thing about this statement is that this theme of inquiry being worthless is also a philosophical inquiry and in turn must be worthless. Still, I suppose there are many types of inquiry that can be quantified in different ways. Overall, your blog posts were very well written and did a great job of analyzing Voltaire’s novel.