War: An Unreasonable Act The Age of Enlightenment was a time of discovery, innovation, and reason. Prominent figures of the time took to expressing their opinions, rooted in critical thinking, to criticize the status quo and it’s vulgarity. Jonathan Swift and Voltaire used satire to condemn the high class, religion, and war in their works Gulliver’s Travels and Candide, respectively . Through Gulliver’s and Candide’s journeys, both experience first-hand the inhumane brutality of war, causing them to ponder on what it is that allows humans to treat one another in such a way. Mentors, and plain reason allows both Candide and Gulliver to realize that war is an act of injustice, and more notably, one that typically lacks good reason for the good …show more content…
Witnessing a battle at sea, he tells Martin “You see…this scoundrel…has met the fate he deserved” (Voltaire 458). Martin replies “Yes…but did the passengers abroad his ship have to perish too?…” (Voltaire 459). Martin is pointing out how unreasonable it is that innocent civilians perish during war, even though they have nothing to do with the direct war effort. While there might be some justification for soldiers to die in battle, there is none for the civilians who happen to be caught in the fury of war. Even in war, Voltaire points out that there is unreasonable casualties to be found amongst the soldiers involved in war. Candide and Martin witness the execution of an admiral, and Candide wonders why this was necessary. Martin answers him “The reason, they told him, is that he didn’t kill enough people…in this country it is useful from time to time to kill one admiral in order to encourage the others” (Voltaire 467). A soldier or his superiors can face a violent death if they do not adhere fully to the nature of war. The soldiers must disregard their reason in order to do this, if not they face the possibility of being punished or killed. Voltaire considers the reasons why these solders and civilians are put in danger to be foolish. Martin tells Candide “You know that this two nations have been at war over a few acres of snow near Canada, and that …show more content…
Gulliver says to his master “Neither are any wars so furious and bloody, or of so long continuance, as those occasioned by difference in opinion, especially if it be in things indifferent” (Swift 353). As far as Gulliver is concerned, the less significant the cause, the more violent the war becomes. Swift is commenting on humanity’s bloodlust, that if not subject to reason, will lead to people killing people for the most pointless reasons. Gulliver goes on to describe how the technology used in war leaves its victims, he states “I gave him a description of cannons…dying groans, limbs flying in the air…fields strewed with carcasses left for food for dogs….burning, and destroying” (Swift 354). The exact same desolation that Voltaire used to describe the aftermath of war is recounted by Swift, with particular attention paid to the macabre. Swift does this to entice the audience into pondering whether it is reasonable for a soldier to be subject to such devastation. Swift clearly does not think so, as Gulliver’s Houyhnhnm master tells him “…when a creature pretending to reason could be capable of such enormities, he dreaded lest the corruption of that faculty might be worst than brutality itself. He seemed therefore confident, that instead of reason, we were only possessed of some quality fitted to increase our natural vices…” (Swift 354). The Houyhnhnms are creatures that are led