Voltaire is a great author of Candide. However, did you ever question why he made the characters the way he did? Why he killed some and others strugled? Everyone has a story, or came from an evil, and everyone Candide encounters has exactly that. Is he paralleling real life dramas, and stating how blind we are of tis world infront of us?
As this book ventures on, we learn that Candide is learning. Maybe Voltaire is learning too. Learning that the world is the way it is, or maybe he's still just telling us that life is a journey? Is it possible that Voltaire is Candide in this book? Exemplifying a real life parallel to Voltaire's life and the evils he encountered. Things like earthquakes, plague, robbery, and so much more has such a dramatic effect on people's lives. In Candide, theres a new evil at each turn of the page and it can go by so fast that we might not catch it if it isn't pointed out to the reader. It's possible that the meaning behind Voltaire's satire in this book is that evils go on everyday and we don't even know it. Candide is set on this journey to find his love, and never thought he'd be taught about life in such a different light.
Candide continues changing, and understanding the world. Learning other views such as Martins and understanding that maybe what Pangloss taught wasn't so right. Could it be possible that these are the conflicts that Voltaire tries to understand. I believe Voltaire's message he wants us to know is that we just go about life and never stop to realize that people aren't as lucky as us. There is so much suffering and it happens daily. Voltaire could be saying that we can help change the world to a better future if we open our eyes to the harsh reality.
I find myself questioning Voltaire's motives for making each character suffer very often. I feel as if he has exaggerated the evil in the world, yet again it could have been for humorous purpose. Voltaire's aim was probably not to show us the evil in the world but rather make fun of it. Simply because of the events he puts all of the characters through. However, with doing this I feel as if he's trying to brush off the evil that does lie in this world, as without it we wouldn't know happiness would we? Nor would we enjoy life if such events did not occur.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the character analysis of Voltaire, I believe the post demonstrated a true interest of Voltaire’s purpose and interpretation of Candide. Though, there are a few things one could expand on. For example, in addition to inferring why Voltaire choose to have Candide exposed to such tragedies, one could use other scholarly resources that can support particular theories. Overall, the post arose relevant questions concerning the meaning behind Voltaire’s satire and like stated, the possible parallel to Voltaire’s personal life an evil he has encountered. The post can also be improved by going into depth on segments or chapters of the novel.
ReplyDelete