Candide

This is incredibly late, considering that I finished the book quite a while ago, but it's here now, and I shall ramble on as I always do, and continue the next time I finish a book.

Voltaire seemed to have the rather brilliant idea of communicating an important message through the form of prose, and, in particular, a fairytale or seemingly innocent bed-time story; much like George Orwell, in fact, when he chose to write Animal Farm. However, the issue presented here is far more obviously presented to those that know little about the subject (like lowly old me) and it is far less political and far more to do with ideology and philosophy. Voltaire is constantly challenging the popular philosophical idea of the times; that all that happens to one is for the best. He presents this attitude in the form of the tutor Pangloss; Candide represents all those who will accept what they're told without question; the attitude of, presumably, Voltaire himself is represented through many characters along the way, although mainly through Candide's companion Martin, who thinks that humans are the creation of the devil and that they can do only evil to each other. This book puts blind faith in the spotlight, as Candide experiences many hardships along his journey and, at first, simply dismisses them with the affirmation that "everything is for the best; there is a better world where all shall be rewarded in due course". Voltaire's contempt for this theory is apparent throughout the book, and he presents those characters who believe in it as fools and ignoramuses, and he constantly tests it with the many hardships he throws upon Candide; he is robbed several times of all the gold he possesses; he is beaten many many times; he is thrown in jail for a period of time and has his lover Cunégonde snatched away from him on many occasions. However, despite the fact that he sets out to disprove this theory in as many ways as possible, Voltaire does give the story a happy ending, and so proves the theory by arguing that, if all of these terrible things had not happened to them, they would not be where they are and would not have all of the lovely things they do, not to mention the good friends, delicious food and profitable land.

In terms of the method of storytelling, I am of the opinion that it was an incredibly clever ploy to present such a heavy and usually unapproachable idea to a wider audience in such a light, easy manner. It certainly helped me, ignorant that I am on such matters, to understand the different views of others concerning, in loose terms, "the meaning of life". Indeed, I found that I didn't really need much knowledge on the subject to fully understand it. At the point at which this was first published, Voltaire had gained a reputation around Europe as being a writer of tragedies; this was probably written to lighten his reputation as well as keeping it intact, as the message it puts across to the reader is a very important, and one that most definitely should not be dismissed lightly.

Next I'll be reading (or blogging on, as I have only just finished it today, was about to start blogging about it when I realised I had done nothing about Candide. Shameful, I know) The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers.