OPTIMISM IN CANDIDE
Candide is a protagonist in Voltaire’s work Candide. He is an illegitimate son of Baron’s sister who lives a luxurious life with his Uncle Baron in the Thunder-Ten-Trunckh castle. Pangloss, the castle’s philosopher, teaches Candide about optimism and that “we live in the best of all possible worlds”. Cunagonde, the Baron’s daughter, sees Pangloss having sex with Paquette, the castle maid, in the bush and gets interested in Candide. She dropped her handkerchief near Candide and they end up kissing. This led to Candide being excommunicated from the castle and it marked the beginning of his suffering. This paper discusses how Candide’s philosophical views are tested, the evil he encountered, the imperfections in the philosophy of optimism and Candide’s perspective towards optimism.
Candide faced many trials and challenges that might have changed his philosophical view of optimism. First, after he was evicted from the castle, Candide got forcefully recruited into the Prussian army where he was tortured and almost got killed. He was then made to fight in the war between Prussia and French (Wood, M 2005, p. 24). Secondly, the eviction from the castle made him to separate with his lover Cunegonde which was a bad thing to him as he saw a future with her as his wife. Thirdly, Candide suffers the loss of a friend, Jacques, who had restored optimism in him after he suffered in the hands of the Prussian army. Jacques meant a lot to Candide as he also healed his tutor, Pangloss, from syphilis. He died in the Lisbon’s harbor as they were migrating to Paraguay. Pangloss and Candide are accused of blasphemy after Pangloss expressed his views on optimism to the Candide. The inquisitor arrests them, they get whipped and almost get killed but later, Candide managed to escape.
Evil is one aspect that is brought out in the book Candide. Earthquake is one of the natural evils. The tragic Tsunami happened in Lisbon which lead to thousands of people losing their lives, many people injured, and massive destruction of properties. According to Radner, J.B. & Braun, T.E.D. (2005, p. 8) the message that God helped in the construction of history is well received. Prostitution is another evil in Candide. After losing her job at the castle, Paquette moved to Venice where she became a prostitute despite the fact that she had syphilis and she knew she would transmit the disease to others, just like she infected Pangloss. Warfare and assassination is evident in the book as the Bulgar of Prussia assassinates the Baron’s family in order to invade the territory. This invasion leads to the death and separation of Baron’s family members. Religion prosecution is seen when Candide and Pangless are captured by the Grand Inquisitor. They were to be burnt alive as an act of faith to appease God and prevent more disasters in the society. This is a norm to them called ‘auto-da-fe’. Religion in the society is full of corruption and hypocrisy. Church leaders are cruel and they punish those who disagree with their theological teachings. According to Lewis, C.S. (2001, 16), the possibility of pain is inherent and when people become wicked, they use this possibility to hurt one another. Another evil is sexual exploitation of women. Cunegonde is raped by Prussian Bulgar when they were taking over her father’s territory, she later got forced into sexual slavery. The old woman also narrates her misfortunes one of them being rape.
In his sojourn, Candide encounters many incidents and characters that shake his optimism. When Candide acquires wealth in Eldorado, he becomes corrupt as he can buy his way through anything. Corruption makes him an unhappy wealthy man because his money is consumed by dishonest merchants. This lowers his optimism belief level to a point where no amount of flogging could do. Martin, his friend, happens to be a pessimist who doesn’t believe that anything good can come out of human being. They both argue because Candide trusts people easily while Martin does not. An example is when Candide sent Colombo to go and pick Cunegonde and the old woman. Martin became so furious and negative on the matter and all he could do was blame Candide instead of encouraging him. The old woman is a pessimist who gives her life story and the misfortunes she has encountered. Her experience shakes Candide’s optimism as after all the suffering, no justice was done for the old woman and she ended up as a maid (Wood, M 2005, p. 45).
Candide realizes that in as much as the philosophy of optimism has its advantages, it also has its flaws. The hope for a better future might be good for human beings, but it is important to work towards what we can change and not to assume that everything happens for a reason. First, Jacque’s death could be averted if they had tried to save him. Instead, Pangloss’ optimistic believe that the harbor was built in order to kill him made Jacques to drown to death. Secondly, the philosophy of optimism is used to justify evil in the society. When Pangloss is infected with Syphilis by Paquette, he says that syphilis is a disease from America and it had to be transmitted to Europe so that Europeans can also enjoy the new things that come with civilization like chocolate, despite the disease costing him an ear and one eye. Pangloss also says that noses were made to support spectacles and that’s why people have spectacles (Wood, M.
2005, p. 30). Thirdly, optimism almost led to Candide’s death. Candide was among the victims of the Tsunami and he almost died. At that time, he asked Pangloss for oil and wine but all he could do was try to prove to him about the causes of earthquakes.
At some point in his sojourn, Candice opposes Pangloss’ views. After Pangloss was hanged by the auto-de-fate, Candide is broken and opposes Pangloss’ view when he says to himself, “If this is the best possible of all worlds, what are the others like? I wouldn’t complain if it were just that I’d been flogged: the Bulgars flogged me too. But my dear Pangloss, the greatest of philosophers - did I have to see you hanged, without knowing why? And my dear Anabaptist, the kindest of men - did you have to be drowned in the harbor? And Lady Cunegonde, the pearl of young ladies - did your belly have to be split open?” (Bair, L 2003, p. 26). Secondly, when Candide learns about the inhumane treatment that slaves were subjected to, he say, “Oh Pangloss! It’s too much: I’ll have to give up on your optimism at last.” (Bair, L 2003, p.63). This is evident that Candide doubted the philosophy of optimism and believed that changing evil was a free will for human beings.
Candide’s perspective of optimism changed for the better. It changed from “we live in the best of all possible worlds” to “we must cultivate our garden”. After all the suffering that Candide goes through in his sojourn, he meets a man with his small family who work hard in their land for survival without depending on others. Candide decides that he wants to live like this man in order to escape the wicked world’s punishment of vice, boredom and poverty. He settles down with his wife Cunegonde, Pangloss, Martin, old woman and the Baron. Though he doesn’t have much, he finally finds happiness. According to Besterman, T. (1972, p. 27), all men would be equal if wants never existed. Inequality is as a result of need for survival and dependency on others which makes one man to be subjective to another man.
Optimism plays an important role in the lives of human beings as it encourages people to push on and never give up. However, if misinterpreted, it can bring a lot of damage to the society as the offenders go unpunished due to the belief that everything happen in accordance to God’s plans. People should work for survival and a good life instead of waiting for fate to take its course.
References
Bair, L., 2003. CANDIDE. New York: A Bantam Book.
Bottiglia, W., 1968. CANDIDE'S GARDEN. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Braun, T.E. and Radner, J.B., 2005. THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE OF 1755. Representations
and Reactons, Oxford: Voltaire Foundation.
Lewis, C.S., 2001. THE PROBLEM OF PAIN. London, Harper Collins.
Voltaire, F., 2005. CANDIDE OR OPTIMISM. (trans. and ed. T. Cuffe, with an introduction by
- Wood). Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Voltaire, F., 1972. PHILOSOPHICAL DICTIONARY. (Vol. 3). (Trans and ed. Theodore
Besterman) London and New York: Penguin.
