Reaction to Candide

Although I did not enjoy Candide as I did the other summer reading novels, I admired and appreciated Voltaire’s masterful utilization of irony to convey his views on life, science, and philosophy. I particularly agree with his view that the universe is random and uninvolved. His mockery of the idea of an omniscient, caring universe that is the “best of worlds,” that works to secure happiness for each individual residing within it utilizes the character of Candide (optimism!) effectively in my opinion. It is entertaining that, throughout all his violent misfortunes and those of others that he witnesses, he continues to brightly insist that “all is well.” In mocking Candide and his opinions (that were fed to him by Dr. Pangloss), Voltaire mocks this view of determined optimism.

The elements of the novel that I enjoy most are his snide, sneaky insults to rival philosophers whose views he sees as preposterous and as intending to take intellectual advantage of the uneducated. One of his more amusing insults is his use of Dr. Pangloss’ diction- nonsense words are used by the good doctor to explain his philosophy for Candide and his other disciples, to great comic effect. I feel like a modern connection to this that I can relate to is the vocabulary of Scientology, which includes words most people dismiss as nonsense, decreasing its credibility (unintentional by the creator), as Voltaire beats down the credibility of his rivals by exaggerating the ridiculous words they create.

The flow and style of Candide did not appeal to me, possibly because it was a form of writing that I have, on the whole, not been exposed to in my past reading of literature. In my opinion, Candide reads more like a play (though it is not in the play format) than a novel, with great amounts of dialogue and action description, but little to no internal voice - which I feel that I need to become fully engrossed in the novel and form a bond with the story’s narrator. The repetition (for example, the repeated violent miseries such as hangings, burnings, rapes, and floggings that were exacted upon characters throughout almost the entire novel) of similar actions and lack of a noticeable narrative presence that I can relate to left me wanting a rich fantasy novel like the Lord of the Rings trilogy or the Harry Potter series. It was interesting for me to note that I can lose patience with such a short fiction novel, but I feel that this was just a matter of personal taste, as I acknowledge and admire Voltaire’s talented and quick – witted utilization of irony.

The ultimate message of Candide, that “we must cultivate our garden,” is one with which I agree completely. The idea that comfortable and humble success, gained over a long period of time through hard work, sits well with me, compared to Candide’s initial idea that wealth would simply come to him because he is deserving of it. The message is an important one, especially for our era when economic success is far from secure.