Ah, the unyielding torture of Spring Break homework! Since I'm only about halfway done, I thought I'd ask some questions pertinent to where I am in the text.
Pangloss - An idiot or a true philosopher?
Candide - Is there a being more ridiculous than him?
Cunegonde - Did she ever really love Candide, or was he simply convenient?
Cacambo - The best character of them all??
Discuss.
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2 comments:
As you have no doubt ascertained, Candide is a satire (Good job, Ali). Cacambo is the voice of reason, or practicality. Note his social position. Candide...how can he go on denying that there is an irrational evil factor in the human equation? Candide was written in the face of the Enlightenment--the belief that that science and reason does --and should rule all, including our social and political structure. Duh. But...what have we learned from our observations of humanity?
You have seen the slams agains organized religion--note the good antabaptist (a religious sect that was only tolerated), James, compared to the followers of thepredominant religion, Catholicism. As for Pangloss and Cunegonde, they are not only pathetically funny ( an odd combination), but they are magnifying glasses to hypocrisy...Pangloss the "enlightened" and Cunegonde the "pure" and "good". Yeah, right.
I hope this piqued your interest a bit. Look up the Enlightenment and Voltaire--and check out Voltaire's past. He did some Bastille time. GLad you are reading--and get out and enjoy today. 67 and sunshine. I am going riding!
Okay, now I'm done with the book.
Martin was definitely my favorite character. Pessimism is the best philosophy (I always say) because pessimists are never disappointed. They expect the worst in every situation. That being said, here is my assessment:
Candide is a capricious, immature, and incompetent idiot. Without a person by his side holding his hand, he is completely useless. No matter what bad comes his way, he is unable to fully accept that the world is not the best of all possible worlds. Like Mrs. Calkin said, he is unable to see the evil in the human equation. Despite the fact that the woman he loves does not love him and marries him simply because she knows she won't be able to find anyone else to love her (after she becomes ugly, which she deserved), Candide naively hangs on to his optimism.
Pangloss is an idiot. Enough said.
Cunegonde, our resident weak female character, is the worst character in the book. She is vain, ignorant, and unbelievably stupid. She fails to see that Candide loves her unconditionally and does not fight to stay with him. Ever. She cheats on him constantly and only marries him at the end because she is ugly and will be able to find no one else to marry her. Thanks, white protestant author, for another work of literature in which women are demeaned to a level below that of dogs.
Cacambo is an interesting character. He is unquestionably loyal and is, as Mrs. Calkin said, the voice of reason. Well, of course he's the voice of reason! He's the servant. Kind of the Sancho Panza of Candide, if you know what I mean. Ah, blind loyalty to undeserving masters!
Martin is the funniest character. He's like eeyore--eternally a pessimist. Every situation, in his eyes, will end in complete defeat. He's the foil to Candide. Thank God for cynicism!
I found it interesting that most of the main characters were very one-dimensional. Obviously, their blandness was intentional. Voltaire wanted to focus on the satire in his story, not the characters themselves. Candide is an obvious satire of the philosophies of the Enlightenment, as well as Voltaire's opportunity to badmouth every critic that every spoke harshly about his writing. Furthermore, Voltaire used the work to show his disdain for the excesses and contradictions of religion. Thank God this book was interesting.
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