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The portrayal of human condition in Voltaire's candide
The portrayal of human condition in Voltaire's candide
The portrayal of human condition in Voltaire's candide
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Voltaire’s Depiction of Utopia After discovering paradise, why would anyone leave? In Voltaire’s Candide, Candide and his valet, Cacambo, discover a land plentiful in both jewels and hospitality. This land rich with currency and camaraderie is called Eldorado. Voltaire shows that paradise may not always be what people want. This is shown by his depiction of Eldorado, Candide and Cacambo’s departure from there, and what Voltaire is communicating in the text.
I believe the most important episode in the novel is “El Dorado.” El Dorado is a beautiful country, both naturally and manmade. It is a land of great wealth, and its citizens have everything they could possibly need or want. The citizens of El Dorado are unaware that they are the richest people in the world. Because its people value their “pebbles and mud” as materials and not as sources of power, it is a peaceful land.
It underscores that the only worthwhile thing for people to do is to cultivate their gardens. While cultivating gardens are an emblem of hero’s prospect and fortune, neglected ones lead to his misery. Voltaire provides in Candide several types of gardens. A garden that someone can be kicked out of it like what happened to Candide in baron Thunder-ten- tronckh, another garden that someone can foolishly leave as Candide did Eldorado, and a final well taken care of garden that makes human being close to happiness.
1.) Because his judgment was unblemished and his mind was very simple as it is of a child ,very innocent . 2.)Dr. Pangloss’s optimist philosophy was the main focus behind Volataire’s satire. His philosophy was they live in the "best of all possible worlds" and that everything that happens is for the best and for a purpose.
Throughout the novel there are many events that question Pangloss philosophy,These various events helps Candide to mature because he begins to realize that the world is more than Westphalia, and that Westphalia is not the best place in the world. Candide begins to realize that if he wants live in the best world he must construct it. In the novel Candide by Voltaire, the characters of Pangloss,Cacambo, and Martin help contribute to Candide’s growth throughout the novel in many different ways, such as Candide being heavily influenced by Pangloss philosophy at the start of the novel. Later when Candide ventures across the world and meets new people such as Cacambo and Martin, Candide starts to question his beliefs on Pangloss philosophy. When the book first starts Candide has only known one philosophy, which is Pangloss theory that states “ That everything that happens in the world has some point and, in the end, everything happens for the best”(Voltaire
The novel Candide, written by Voltaire, portrays the adventures and experiences of the main character named Candide. Being a very honest man, a character like Candide can be easily swayed and convinced to do and believe anything. From carelessness to greed, the reader can clearly understand that Voltaire ridicules many decisions and situations that occur in the novel. One of many themes Voltaire mocks in the novel would be how greed can result from wealth. What Voltaire is ultimately conveying to the reader is that money cannot buy happiness.
Voltaire’s Candide takes us through the life and development of Candide, the protagonist. Throughout his adventures, he witnesses many travesties and sufferings. Like many Enlightenment philosophers, Pangloss, Candide’s tutor, is an optimist; this philosophy was adopted by many to help mask the horrors of the eightieth century. Pangloss teaches Candide that everything happens for a reason. Voltaire uses satire, irony and extreme exaggerations to poke fun at many aspects; such as optimism, religion, corruption, and social structures within Europe.
Moreover, situations these forces create, and how they are beyond and within the control of Candide. Leading to Candide’s final beliefs, and how they illustrate the follies of optimistic determinism. At the beginning of Voltaire epic Candide is a naive scholar. He strongly adheres to the beliefs laid out for him by his mentor Pangloss.
One key facet of living in the world today is the ability for people to have free will over their own lives. In Voltaire’s story “Candide,” it is clear to observe that although Candide is free to form his own decisions, he allows himself to be strongly determined by his surroundings as well as everyone who he encounters. This story proposes that Candide is trying to find a balance between submitting completely to the speculations and actions of others while also taking control of his life through blind faith. Throughout the story, Candide encounters frequent hardships along his voyage to prosperity. These obstacles include, but are not limited to becoming a bulwark, being beaten and forced to watch his beloved Pangloss having been hanged, leaving such an amazing place as Eldorado, being lied to and tricked out of diamonds by the abb`e, killing Cunegonde’s two lovers, almost being boiled alive for killing the monkey lovers, and being persuaded to be promiscuous on Cunegonde.
This reveals Voltaire’s intention to disclose the inequalities of social standards on females and their feelings of oppression. (grammar???) No matter what horrors are happening to and around a woman, she is unable to prevent or assuage the situation. The moment the Thunder-ten-tronckh family gets murdered by the Bulgars, the lovely Cunegonde gets ravished
Voltaire uses Eldorado as a tool to demonstrate how humans are never content in any setting even ‘paradise’. Paradise does not change Candide’s and Cacambo’s basic human nature. “Sex and vanity are the instruments of the Fall as [they] leave Eldorado in pursuit of their sweethearts and to… show off their riches…” (Pearson xxiv). Eldorado is also used to highlight the mentality we humans have of ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’.
Pangloss is meant not to attack Leibnitz, but rather optimism as a philosophy. Thus the reader cannot forget that all of Pangloss 's ramblings in some way represent an often-humorous characterization of the "typical" optimist, or Leibnitz follower. Pangloss, writes Voltaire, "Proved admirably that there cannot possibly be an effect without a cause, and that in this best of all possible worlds the Baron 's castle was the most beautiful of all castles and his wife the best of all possible baronesses" (319). Thus Voltaire establishes Pangloss as the champion of optimism.
People around the world go through situations in their lives that requiere them to push through and survive. When you truly want to live, you will do anything to just get one more day. People will kill a dog if it means not having to starve to death. People will kill others, walk hundreds of miles barefoot in the sun, and hide from others just to survive.
Voltaire’s Candide is a story of a young man’s adventure and how his experiences change his philosophy on life. Although Candide’s adventures begin with a rather positive confidence that he lives in “the best of all possible worlds” his attitude is quickly transformed when he realizes the world is in fact full of evil. In
Although we clearly see the utopian theme in Voltaire’s Novella Candide, it is categorized as a dystopian story. I would say it is a dilemma between utopia and dystopia; we also sense a dystopian theme in the novella that shows a deep meaning in how to be a part of a whole and how to live right as a human being. In Candide Voltaire’s novella, we are taken on a journey to discover and view the world from a dystopian angle. We are also led by Voltaire to wonder about their world. Voltaire’s creation shows two different characters.
