1) The Jew and the Dungheap - One scene that struck me as I read Candide by Voltaire is the "burial" of Issachar, the Jew: "Candide immediately saddled the three horses. He, Cunegonde and the old woman covered thirty miles without stopping. As they were riding away, the Holy Brotherhood came into the house. His Eminence was buried in a beautiful church, and Issachar was thrown into the garbage dump." (Candide, 39). The contrast maddened me, and strengthened my conviction that religion is as much barrier between people and reason as it is a barrier between people themselves. This scene offers Voltaire's disgust at the blatant Anti-semitism in his time. The fact that, Voltaire held such a belief, is also quite progressive for his time.
2) What Makes Suicide Difficult - Many are unable to commit for various reasons, but Voltaire touched on what is perhaps the most important obstacle: "A hundred times I wanted to kill myself, but always I loved life more. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our worst instincts; is anything more stupid than choosing to carry a burden that really one wants to cast on the ground? to hold existence in horror, and yet to cling to it? to fondle the serpent which devours us till it has eaten out our heart? -In the countries through which I have been forced to wander, in the taverns where I have had to work, I have seen a vast number of people who hated their existence; but I never saw more than a dozen who deliberately put an end to their own misery." (Candide, 49) People do not commit suicide in great numbers because they love life, regardless of how horrible their lives may seem to themselves or others. This may seem "stupid" in the face of all the horrible things humans have been forced to go through or put themselves through. However, notice that the old woman said that people refuse to commit suicide not because they're afraid of hell (a plausible excuse for a religious person) but because of a love for existing. This lends a existentialist feel to Voltaire's work by implying that it is not fear, or religion that keeps humans going, but some innate, inner power that is passionate, strong and at times heroic, in spite of the odds. This is yet another belief that put Voltaire ahead of his time.
3) A Philosophy Easily Disproved - Voltaire's primary argument is with those who subscribe to the beliefs of Pangloss: "It is clear, said he, that things cannot be otherwise than they are, for since everything is made to serve an end, everything necessarily serves the best end." (Candide, 18). This belief was the standard belief taught by the Church in Voltaire's time. Why else would they believe that all celestial bodies revolve around the Earth? Because, Earth was the best possible world, another belief of Pangloss. Voltaire goes on to prove that with all the horrible things that happen in the story such as the wars in Europe, rape and murder at the hands of Moroccan pirates, the earthquake at Lisbon, (all which were based on true events) that everything does not serve the best end. This is very Machiavellian of Pangloss, to assert that the end always justify the means. It is also not very realistic, just looking at all the suffering that takes place on Earth. One might say it is very optimistic to believe such a thing, but it is actually quite naive and stupid. Pangloss's ultimate end is comical in respect to his beliefs.
4) Candide and Sisyphus - The entire story of Candide was written to answer the one question that causes Christians to fumble: "Why would a perfect God allow evil to mar His perfect world?" a question that can be reached in a number of ways: "Why does God allow suffering?" "Why does God allow people to die?" "Why did God allow this to happen to me?" Obviously Voltaire believes that God can not offer man any kind of happiness, if He even exists. So what should be man's course of action. The story ends quite simply, with Candide tending his garden. The message that such a peaceful ending sends, is that no matter how futile, or seemingly useless the work, so long as man finds pleasure in doing it, such tasks can constitute his meaning in life and his happiness. Like Sisyphus with his stone, it is not so much that Candide gardens, but more that he finds pleasure in his garden and tending his garden is to him, more important than riches or even life itself. Once again, Voltaire seems to have been the inspiration for Camus.
5) What Can I Do? - Unlike Sisyphus, Candide has the wealth and power to change the world and alleviate the suffering he has seen and experienced. Yet, he chooses to submerge himself in his garden and ignore the misery outside. He is so busy working that he has no time to contemplate good and evil, or any philosophy for that matter. It might be said, that Voltaire could not find a suitable solution to the suffering in the world and that minding one's own business was the best one can do. The "solution also seems to say that questioning why there is good and evil in the world can only lead to pain, so why not ignore it? I doubt Voltaire is condoning such solutions but perhaps he was trying to say that most people opt for neglect, that after a life of despair, the only way to happiness is to escape reality or at least, seclude oneself from it.
6) The Other Title - The real title of Candide is Candide or Optimism. What did Voltaire mean by Optimism? The most obvious answer was the novel's war against the optimism of Leibniz, which provided the philosophy of Pangloss. Leibniz believed that the perfection of God would answer the problem of evil. Voltaire might have been optimistic that the solution chosen by Candide and his friends by the end of the novel would offer an alternative to the beliefs of his time. I think Voltaire hoped to make others understand that with all the evil, suffering, and misfortune in the world, all misleading optimism should be banished, particularly the religious kind. Such optimism clouds reasons and judgment and allows people to turn a blind eye on atrocities. There is neither optimism or hopes for the better, nor is there pessimism, there is only action or inaction as a means to peace.
7) "If I Did Not Laugh, I Would Cry" - That quote was spoken by President Abraham Lincoln during the darkest days of the Civil War. The 16th President was always cracking jokes even after his son died and his wife lost her mind (she had an extreme case of bipolar emotional disorder). Voltaire used Candide to poke fun at war, rape, and religion. Jewish, black, and gay comedians all make light of the oppression of their people, past or present. There is something in making a joke about something serious, rather than yelling or sobbing, that helps the oppressed cope and makes the oppressor listen. Sometimes poking fun is the only way to make people aware of how bad a situation really is.
8) It's All God's Fault - Many of the atrocities done in Candide are done in the name of God. Though a perfect God could never create evil, evil is perpetuate by God's followers. Voltaire valiantly attacks the church by leaving a long paper trail of hypocrisy. Christian nations hire Moroccan pirates to attack other Christian nations, Jesuits act as soldiers, the Baron's son has homosexual relations with Reverend Father Croust, the Inquisition was powered by the Church which was seemingly dedicated to love and forgiveness, the rich should feed the poor but those who do not believe in the Pope will not have a bite to eat. Human behavior can not match up with the expectations of the Church. Why have rules that are meant to be broken? More importantly, why are religious political institution based on moral principles to blame for so much violence, villainy, tyranny, and hypocrisy?
9) Women - Women in this story are treated as mere sexual objects, thrown about, and at the mercy of the men in their lives. However, Voltaire does offer the old woman and Cunegonde more depth by allowing them extended dialog of the horrors they faced. Voltaire breaks the mold and gives them a voice, a voice to air the troubles of living in a male-dominated world. My only complaint is that Candide constantly thinks of Cunegonde (until he let's her go because she has become ugly). When he see the carnage left by the soldiers only Cunegonde is on his mind. I understand that Candide may have wanted to hold on to his only reason to live while surrounded by so much death, but his one-track mind diminishes my respect for him.
10) To Sum It Up.... - Voltaire's critique of religion and a naïve, unrealistic, optimistic view of life is an excellent source of existentialist black humor that was a major addition to Enlightenment ideals and Western literature. Although the Church almost immediately placed it on an index of banned books, and although the book was initially banned in America for being scandalous and outrageous, Candide really helped Western logic, reason and society move along. Voltaire was the nail in the coffin for old, outdated beliefs that could not solve the world's problems and were actually the cause of them.
- Ryu
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March 2009 
Sora Ryu
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