At The End, We Make Life Better

Although life is difficult, we are the ones who make it better, but how do we make it better?  It would be really difficult to give you a true answer to that question, but I'll give you my own opinion. We often worry too much about things that really aren't that important, things that have no impact on our life. We forget about the real meaning of union because we have this concept that we live in a world of competition. When will we realize that it is not about winning alone, but winning together? It really worries me that when people realize this, it will be too late...

In the last chapter of the book, Pangloss responds to Candide "You are quite right, when man was placed in the Garden of Eden, he was put there to distress it and keep it, to work, in fact; which proves that man was not born to an easy life." (143) That's correct Pangloss, now that's what I like to hear... We, as readers can see how Pangloss evolves his ideas throughout the text, at first he said that this is the best of all possible worlds and now he insists that "man was not born to an easy life." Voltaire argues that although life is not easy, we are the ones who solve its difficulties. By solving our own problems, we learn to persevere and to manage reality with more maturity. Martin says that "We must work without arguing; that it is the only way to make life bearable." (144) I believe toleration is a really important quality every one of us should have as a community. Differences often tear us apart into different identities, which is catastrophic because this means we have no future as a community and that we will never win together, but alone.

The final sentence of the book is really inspiring because it evokes change and unity, something a lot of the characters were lacking at the beginning of the book. Candide says "That's true enough, but we must go and work in the garden." (144) When he says "garden" he is referring to the Garden of Eden. He is now a man that has discovered the real meaning of life. With this closing sentence, we can infer that he gave up his love on Condegonde, but that he is a new man that looks forward to working for progress in his own community.

Life is a Misery

Sometimes being optimistic isn't enough to obtain what you want. Throughout the whole book, Voltaire criticizes optimism through Candide's life. When Candide fails to find Cundegonde and Cacambo after several months in Venice, he falls in despair. He begins to agree with Martin's idea that the world is a misery. At this moment, Candide says "How right you are, my dear Martin! There is nothing here but illusion and one calamity after another." (112) Then, Martin responds "You are surely simple fellow, to believe that a mongrel servant, with five or six million in his pocket, will go for your mistress to the ends of the earth and bring her here to Venice with you." (112-113) He begins to agree with Martin's claim that the world is a misery and that optimism is just useless when it comes to reality.

For those who like Maroon 5, you probably noticed that my title "Life is a Misery," is the chorus of the song Misery from that band. Several of the lyrics from this song relate to Candide's situation at this point and explain his lack of optimism and his state of misery. The song says "I am in misery, there ain't nobody who can comfort me." This is exactly the way Candide feels; despaired and lonely. When human beings have to face this reality, they feel like losers and that life isn't worth it anymore. In the other hand, Sartre, a French philosopher states that "men are completely despaired without God." He might be trying to say that atheists are in complete despair, which I don't agree because unless you have a plan on life and you have the unconditional support of your family and friends, there's no way you'll be in despair.

Another line says "Oh yeah why won't you answer me, the silence is slowly killing me. Oh yeah, girl you really got me bad, you really got me bad. Now I'm gonna get you back, I'm gonna get you back." This song fits so well the book, that I even pictured a whole musical of Candide with this song in my head. I know this isn't relevant, but I had to say it... Okay, going back to my topic, with this line of the song we can see how men are almost always the ones who have to sacrifice everything to be with the person they love. Candide has done almost everything to be with Condegonde and now he realizes that there is nothing else to be done and that life is just a misery.

That So-Called Religion...

Before starting, I just want you to know that I have no intentions of insulting your beliefs nor ideas, if you don't agree with my thoughts, you are welcome to stop reading, and if you continue reading I'm glad you think the way I do...

I strongly believe that religion is a form of government that manipulates people's fear to have money in return. It started simple and significant and it has evolved into a way of life where some people spent their lives praying for things that might not even come true. Grandma I hope you never find out how to view my blog, but I just have to say this... I respect your beliefs and I expect the same in return, but my entire life you have encouraged me into having a religious life where I should read the bible, pray, and leave my destiny in the hands of "God." Well, let me tell you that destiny is not in the hands of God, but in our own hands! We build our future from the moment in which we have the use of knowledge. If I want to accomplish something, I strive  myself with dedication and courage to accomplish it, I don't just simply leave it in "the hands of God."

When Candide asks the old man about their religion, he blushes and tells him the way they interpret it. The old man states "We never pray, we have nothing to ask of God, since he has given us everything we need. But we thank him unceasingly." (79) I'm so glad there's people who think like me even from hundreds of years ago... God gave us the life, but is he in charge of building our future? Hell no, we are the ones who build our own future! There wouldn't be so many people lamenting themselves if they thought this way, it is hard to accomplish your dreams in a world like this, but nothing is impossible if you believe in your self, instead of believing in religion. I'm not saying that you shouldn't believe in God, I just believe that is equally important to believe in yourself.

I live in a family of free thought, where I've being told that I'm free to believe what I want. Well, let me tell you that all of my thoughts and beliefs are reflected on the ones of my parents. The greatest influence on our life is the one of our parents, no matter if good or bad. We decide to follow their beliefs or not, however they have a great impact on our lives. For example, my mom had a very religious mother that even belonged to the Opus Dei. Her entire childhood, she was told to follow the beliefs and principles of Catholicism, and you want to know what is the result of that? A very resentful woman that thinks totally the opposite thing. It is important to respect others beliefs and opinion, no matter how radical they are, even though I strongly believe it is important to express your personal opinion, just how I did in these previous paragraphs.

An Optimistic New World

Optimism is the only way out of reality, the only way to avoid our own lifes. We often think that optimism is a quality every one of us should have, but this book tells us totally the opposite thing. Pangloss argues that this is the best of all possible worlds, and the Anabaptist once contractided him by telling him to be realistic and to face reality as it is. When the earthquake takes place in Lisbon, Conegonde, Candide, and the Old Woman search for a better and new life in "The New World." They strongly believe that in the new world, there will be no problems and that their life will be just perfect.

Off course, sooner or later they would have discovered that the New World wasn't any better than the old one. When they reached the Oreillon frontier, Cacambo said to Candide: "The new world, you see, is no better than the old; take my advice, and let's return to Europe as quickly as we can." (73) Then, Candide responds "Where are we to go when we arrive? If I go to my own country, I shall find Bulgars and Abars cutting everybody's throats; if I return to Portugal, I shall be burnt alive; and if in the other hand we stay in this country, we run a constant risk of being skewered." We can see how Voltaire criticizes optimism through the characters. Candide is trying to be optimistic by searching for ways to start a new life in a new world, but he finds out that he won't find a Utopia where everything flows perfectly. This is when he faces reality, that reality which he tries to avoid all the time.

We live in a society where sometimes reality is a living hell for many of us. Why do we have to make of our lives a living hell? I blame it on the system of society, where we are forced to follow certain rules to belong to the unit. My entire life, I've questioned society because I don't agree with it's so-called "principles." Humanity is supposed to evolve right? Then why do we stick to ideals from the past, where humanity was at another level? We think that Darwin started and finished his research of evolution, but the truth is that there is way more to be discovered. Humanity hasn't evolved completely yet, and you know why? Because we've been condemned to be free! It sounds kind of complicated, but it will make sense as soon as you let me finish my thought. We don't know that we are free, but the truth is that we are free to believe what ever we want. Nothing is a hundred percent sure because that truth is built up of various interpretations of humanity. Do you want to follow religion? do so... Do you want to follow the policy of uniforms in you school? do so.. Do you want to follow the whole system of society? Well, do so, but know for sure that you'll never find the real essence of life because if you follow the system, there's no way you will ever find out that you're free to express however you want.

Anabaptist's Death- Evil vs. Good

Why should a sincere, honest, and good man die and not the evil one? Does there have to be evil as well as good in this world to maintain a balance of nature? I personally didn't expect the Anabaptist's death at all because I though his role in the story was going to be crucial for understanding various of Voltaire's theories. Although, I think his death leaves us a really important message, which is Voltaire's criticism of the optimistic belief that evil is always balanced by good.

When the Anabaptist saves the sailor, he ends up sacrificing his life as a result of his hospitality and kind spirit for an individual who is totally the opposite thing; selfish and evil. In this scene of the story we can see how in some cases its not about balance in nature, but of either good or bad surviving, in this case the evil survives. This scene totally critiques Pangloss's theory of optimism because no matter how optimistic an individual is, events such as these are unpredictable. Although the Anabaptist was more of a realistic human being, he had no bad intentions with anyone. We can also see how useless the christian values can be and that faith won't guarantee a safe destiny.

I'm not saying that optimism is a bad quality, I just think that we as human beings shouldn't rely on it because life is just unpredictable. Optimism helps us face certain events in a more positive way, which is great because with this attitude towards life, difficult situations won't be as hard to overcome later on.              

Sorry if I'm being insistent or repetitive, but I'm so glad we're reading this book because it not only narrates a story, but it interprets the reality of our society and our thinking. By our thinking, I mean our beliefs about destiny and progress, which are greatly criticized in this book. According to Voltaire the reality of our society is barbarous and wicked.

A Nature Corrupted By Men

The Anabaptist claims that men have somehow corrupted nature because God never gave them weapons, which means that men created them in order to destroy themselves. Pangloss thinks totally the opposite thing and argues that "this is the best of worlds." With this two different opinions we can take into consideration that the Anabaptist is the realistic man and that Pangloss is the nonsensical and naive man who thinks human kind is completely innocent.

It is important to mention that the Anabaptist is a character who contrasts the usual idea of society, which explains that human beings should govern the world no matter the consequences it might cause to nature. He is a generous human being, realistic about human kind, which is a quality no one else has up to now in the story. With this character, various theories and ideas of Voltaire will show up through the story.

I personally relate myself with  the Anabaptist because I believe human kind has corrupted not only nature, but society in every sense. We have created a world of our own where nothing is real, everything is an allusion; metaphors are great example of this theory implied my Nietzsche, a german philosopher. For me a rock symbolizes a plain life where nothing is relevant to one's understanding; for another person a rock is simply a rock. Jean Paul Sartre says "Humans are condemned to be free," then what kind of freedom is the one where we destroy ourselves, nature, and society?


For me, society is not more than a fake regimen that manipulates vulnerable human beings that have to follow it since they are born in this planet. We have to adapt to a certain culture, religion, community etc. Society has told us that the wealthy ones are the ones who should govern the world because they are the ones who have fortune, that it's NOT natural that two individuals from the same sex are together and that they just can't form a family because it sets a bad example to the community. Then is it a good example to isolate people just because they are different? I mean, what does different even mean?

Listen carefully, if you are one of those people who follows society's belief that these people just shouldn't exist nor set an example on our community, you better change your act together because there's absolutely no way humankind will evolve with this idea. What I believe is that everything born on this planet is natural and if it's not natural it wouldn't even exist...

even the bible accepts it...

Voltaire, "The Wordsmith"

It's hard to find a writer that really inspires imperative readers, like me. I don't like books that talk about random stories I don't even care about, but this one digs further into the real meaning of literature. Before entering Mr. Tangen's class, I had no idea of what a satire was, but now I know it is the only tool that encourages me to finish a book. You might think I'm a geek, but I actually like bringing to light the real meaning of a story, otherwise it's not relevant to my learning or understanding. Candide is exactly the type of literature I enjoy reading because it challenges the reader.

Before starting my analysis, I just want to thank Voltaire for bringing up such a great classic of literature, and off course to Mr. Tangen for assigning us a book that is worth reading.                                  
From what I've read until now, I can say the use of irony in the book is hilarious when you get to understand it because it's definitely not that obvious. When the narrator is describing the Baron's influence in Westphalia, he says "The Baron was one of the most influential noblemen in Westphalia, for his house had a door and several windows and his hall was actually draped with tapestry." (19) How in the world is that influential on a whole community? Off course, what the narrator is trying to say is that he was nothing more than an idle and vague man who had none influence on the people. 

Another tool that Voltaire implies in his work is the hyperbole, which is an exaggeration. He mentions that "Pangloss taught metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nigology." (20) Off course such study doesn't even exist, but we as readers assume that he is a brilliant eggheaded man. With exaggerations like this, our interpretations might be different, which makes future class discussions important... 

There's a part in the story that really made me laugh, which is when the narrator describes the intercourse between Pangloss and Lady Conegonde. At first, we think Pangloss is just teaching her a lesson, but at last we find out that all they were doing was having sex. He says "Since Lady Conegonde took a great interest in science, she watched the experiments being repeated with breathless satisfaction." (21) Who would have though that science could be so inspiring...  Now, this type of literature is the one that makes me laugh. I just find it so disappointing that not every reader would understand the use of irony in scenes that are so worth understanding.