Foster Connections

When I first picked up How to Read Literature Like A Professor, I was really skeptical about how much the book would enrich my reading. I have my own methods and ways of thinking, just like everyone else, and it was almost blasphemous to me to think that I would be told how to read by Thomas Foster. However, after a few initial adjustments, I grew to enjoy Foster’s book and appreciate the literary connections that were previously invisible to me (in addition to wanting to read nearly all the books he recommended in his reading list). With the Books on File project, I revisited Foster’s literary connections in relation to Candide by Voltaire and Tess of the D’Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy.

Throughout the entirety of Candide, the title character is on one quest or another, whether to find his love Cunegonde or reclaim massive amounts of money. At the end of the novel, Candide wises up somewhat and insists that “we must cultivate our garden.” He has gained some perspective on his place in the world, finally giving up after multiple retries at gaining wealth and success. However, Voltaire includes no other indications that the blissfully ignorant man has changed his philosophy (which is not really his own philosophy, as it is taken directly from Pangloss’ own views due to Candide’s trusting nature). Therefore, it is my opinion that the quest symbolism in Candide is ironic because quests in novels exist on a base level to evolve the characters who undertake them, according to Foster (P 235). Because Candide undertook such a massive journey, beginning as a blissfully optimistic figure, I expected him to change significantly as a character. That he doesn’t is ironic and perhaps indicative of Voltaire’s views towards mankind, that it is ignorant, naive, and unwilling to change. When I reached the end of the book and thought, “what did that mean,” the book felt empty to me unless I considered Voltaire’s irony in having Candide undertake this quest.

In the project, I also drew connections with Tess of the D’Urbervilles. The link that stands out to me most between Hardy’s novel and How to Read Literature Like A Professor was Foster’s chapter on vampires and other literary monsters. In my opinion, Alec D’Urberville is a classic example of this. He’s dark, mysterious, lecherous of virginal young women, and satisfies his urges by using Tess, just as a vampire uses its victims. In the rape scene, Tess’ skin was “traced such a coarse pattern as it was doomed to receive (119)” – almost like a symbolic vampire bite. Vampires leave just the bodies of their victims behind- this seems to indicate that Alec has taken Tess’ spirit and what he leaves is an empty shell of a person, which raises new questions and layers of meaning for her subsequent actions. The connection of D’Urberville to a vampire, in my opinion, adds a richness and mysticism to Tess of the D’Urbervilles that would otherwise not have been present, so I appreciate the fact that Foster’s novel was so effective in illuminating literary connections that I will be able to use in all of my future reading.