The purpose
of Candide is to criticize philosophies that are blindly optimistic. In the
very beginning, Candide never questioned his master, Pangloss’ overly
optimistic belief that everything is perfect in the world. However, over time, cruel
society smashed his dream when he fell in love with the daughter of the Baron
and was kicked out of the house. He began to lead a vagrant life, facing all
kinds of difficulties and disasters on his journey. From betrayal, to
superstition, he saw the dark side of the world. Despite this, he still
believed in the existence of the perfect world until he arrived to El Dorado.
Everywhere was gold, rubies, and emeralds. Everyone was equal and free, living happy
and wealthy lives. With this, he finally
realized the cruelty of society. He abandoned his philosophy and began to
believe people could gain happiness through hard work, since working brings
people away from the three main sources of pain: worrying, mistakes, and lust.
It is the only way to make life easier. This
book reveals the fault in having an arbitrary monarchy and the hypocrisy of the
Catholic Church for its oppression and mockery of its people. The war brought disaster to the people, showing the tragic fate of the
people's sympathy, while also exposing their innocent ignorance.
The authors
used a third person perspective in this story. The style is surprisingly calm,
as everything just goes with the flow. We can’t see the opinion of the author,
but he aims for a strong sense of shock. Because the author uses a cold tone,
it’s understood that the text is to be taken seriously, causing the reader to
look at their life in a different light. With this new perspective, it’s easier
to look at everything calmly.
Candide as a character is given a specific connotation. Besides being naturally
modest, straightforward, and simple in mind, the author shapes him into a blind
believer of the perfection of the world. His behavior is ridiculous and stupid.
Candide does not know how to fight, as his life is more about living under the
control of others, rendering him unable to control his own destiny. With his
pathetic inability to fight, he let the world hurt him. The author shows the
cruelty of society through his unfortunate and the incredible journey, which inevitably
leads to his broken dream. According to the author, El Dorado is the ideal
place, but it conflicts with the reality of life. The two worlds are just like
two parallel lines that will never meet.
In my opinion, being honest is different from being candid. The
difference is in the way they conduct their way of thinking in areas like how
to get along with others, general attitude about the world, and what is
required of others. Candide accepted and obeyed everything that happened to
him., but honest people will change their attitudes based upon the environment without
letting it affect their honesty. The honesty of Voltaire showed through when he
arranged a trip to the “ideal country” for Candide. This country is perfect,
but the path to get there is deadly and hard, even considered impossible. With
this, he admits the existence of darkness. His ironic way of writing is penetrating
and meaningful.
