OK I admit it. I downloaded some SparkNotes for this book as I was reading it because I wanted to be sure I was picking up what Voltaire was laying down. It is clear from the very first page that Voltaire is sticking it to the powers that be. Here we are introduced to the Baron, Candide’s father:
He was called "My Lord" by all his people, and he never told a story but everyone laughed at it.
And that’s just the beginning. Much later in the book Candide and his companion find themselves in the fantastic land of El Dorado, where children play in the streets with gold nuggets and rubies. His companion asks a village elder about religion and asks to meet one of their priests:
"My friend," said he, "we are all priests. The King and all the heads of families sing solemn canticles of thanksgiving every morning, accompanied by five or six thousand musicians."
"What! have you no monks who teach, who dispute, who govern, who cabal, and who burn people that are not of their opinion?"
You get the idea. I was surprised that Voltaire was able to get away with this, until I read that he was imprisoned and exiled on various occasions. But apparently his wit and intelligence literally saved his life.
The sarcasm just oozes in every paragraph as Voltaire skewers religion, the government, and especially the philosophy of optimism which became popular during The Enlightment. Candide was living a sheltered life in his father’s castle and was educated by his tutor Pangloss who teaches him that “everything is for the best” and that we are living “in the best of all possible worlds”. Because with God in Heaven looking over us, any other point of view would suggest that God is imperfect. Then life intervenes. Candide is witness to murder, rape, terrible cruelty and disregard for life, shipwrecks and earthquakes among other disasters. He perseveres, however, convincing himself that all that he is experiencing is “for the best”.
Finally even his tutor Pangloss has to admit that the world is not perfect. The main characters meet a farmer who tells them: “Our labour preserves us from three great evils -- weariness, vice, and want.” And Candide speaks the last and possibly most famous line from the book: "That is good," replied Candide. "Let us cultivate our garden."
No comments:
Post a Comment