Another Happy Ending... Blah Blah Blah

            Candide's ending was definitely not what I expected it to be. I imagined a completely different story with completely different characters at the end. But the fact that characters are thought to be dead and then are suddenly alive is getting a little old by now. Now the Baron and Pangloss are alive too. Wait what? Yes, you read it well. Not only was I surprised but I also got to hate Candide by the end of the book.

            So these two have been alive all along and even though Candide saw them dead and even killed one of them he couldn't see what was right in front of him? I believe this is selfish and naive from his part because he just thought they were dead and left, running away from his problems while everyone else suffered. It really pisses me off how Candide always gets his way, no matter what. He always has a tendency of running away with the help of someone else and never gets caught for anything, but the other characters do have to pick up after him. He is superficial, selfish, immature, stupid, and a coward.

            It is also very absurd hoy Candide, after everything he has gone through, ends up happy with the people he wants to be. For example, he gets Pangloss, the one he missed so much and remembered everyday, the one he saw being hanged and dead. So while Pangloss was suffering, Candide was with his servants escaping his problems (for example when he killed the Baron) and managing the easy way out of everything. Seriously?

            Apart from all the negative qualities I just listed about Candide, he is superficial too. So it turns out he doesn't want to be with Cunégonde anymore because she has grown to be very ugly. I found this stupid, ironic, and in a way the author was mocking the situation and Candide because he was willing to be with Cunégonde just to contradict the Baron and prove that he won or whatever. "At the bottom of his heart, Candide had no wish of marrying Cunégonde,but the Baron's intransigence determined him to go through with the match" (p.138). This was clearly ironic and stupid of Candide because why would someone do something to hurt someone else if they are going to end up hurt too? It makes no sense at all! And in a way, the author is also mocking Candide because of his naiveness and self centered world, even though it seems as if he loved Cunégonde and would do anything for her. I think not.

            I also think it is very unfair how Candide, despite everything he has gone through, always gets his happy ending. At the beginning of the book, for example, Pangloss dies and then he is separated from Cunégonde, then finds out she was dead, which was devastating, and then she was suddenly alive, so here he got what he wanted. Then, he loses Cunégonde in buenos Ayres, and then meets her brother. Everything is going well until Candide kills him. So he was clearly in a lot of trouble, so he just put on his clothes, pretended to be the Baron, and left him there and escaped. Really Candide? Really? This proves his self centeredness, not to mention when he saw Cunégonde at the end that he didn't want to be with her anymore because of her looks. This demonstrates what a coward he was and how he had the ability of falling into his own lies.

            The ending was not only surprising but it also gave me a new perspective on the book and clearly the characters. It is endings like these which actually make me realize whether I liked the book or not, and in this case, I did (a lot) even though I am not reading it by option. I could also notice that by the reaction I had as I read, and how attached I got to the book.

So congratulations on your hundredth happy ending Candide! Im done now.

Spoiler Alert!!

           

            All my previous posts have been about satire, irony, comparisons, and events of the book. For a change, I will talk about what I haven't liked so far. The book is interesting, entertaining, and it certainly has very unexpected events, not to mention the constant satire. However, even though the book has a lot of pros, I will now talk about the cons.

            In many occasions, I have written about certain events of the book that I find astonishing, unexpected, important, or interesting. For instance, the story of the Old lady, the death and return of Lady Cunégonde, and the murdering of Cunégonde's brother as well as Candide's escape. Even though these are some of the many events that have left me breathless, there are certain things I don´t like. For instance how every chapter's sub tittle basically tells you what is going to happen in one sentence. Just like  Connor said in one of his blogs, tittles give it away. Of course, if you read the chapter you know much more detail including what happened before or after the event the tittle spoiled for you, but you know the mayor event of the chapter before reading it.

            As I commented in Connor's post, even though the chapters's sub tittles spoil the event, after reading the chapter there is always something else that is either important, interesting, or unexpected. You can also look at it this way: As soon as you start reading a chapter, you already know what will happen, but it really doesn't make much of a difference because all you have to read is a maximum of four or five pages. Also, by knowing what will happen in each chapter, the amount of extra details you get after reading it is not much because Voltaire's way of writing doesn't give away many detailed descriptions or detailed. The events are just clearly stated and easy to imagine.

Run Candide, Run!

            The way the author makes fun of the situation as well as the characters is present throughout the whole book. As I have stated in my previous blogs, he does this through satire, especially by using irony. In the next ten pages I read, I was very into the book because not only the irony caught my eye but also the situation. I wasn't expecting Candide to leave Lady Cunégonde and much less for him to kill her brother and leave.

            One part I thought was contradictory was when Candide was fighting with Cunégonde's brother because of his opposition to their love and marriage and Candide deaws his sword into The Baron´s stomach. When Candide cries "O God! What have I done! I have killed my old master, my friend, and my brother-in-law! I am the best-tempered man there ever was, yet I have already killed three men, and two of them were priests!" (pg. 67) I noticed the irony of the situation. He is complaining on how he is the best tempered man there has ever been, yet he has killed three people, and in this case, he did it accidentally. He didn't even want to do it, but he just stabbed the Baron, as a reflex. So does this really make him the "best-tempered man there ever was"? It is ironic because it is clear that he has changed as a person, and has done things he would never have done at the beginning of the book, but even though he isn't satisfied by his actions, he feels guilty and then avoids the problem in any way possible, no matter who else gets hurt, just as long as he ends up alive. 

         


             For example, as soon as his incident with Cunégonde's brother occurred, he got the dead man's clothes and hat and just left. Of course, he was trying to save his life, but if murdering Cunégonde's brother was so bad for him, be would have turned himself in wouldnt he? So he cant be feeling that bad can he? So I believe that the author is making fun of Candide´s thoughts and actions as if he were a poor miserable man who never knows whats infront of him. Why would he do something (in this case kill someone), feel bad, move on, do it two more times, feel bad again, say he is the best tempered man ever, and then just get away in order to save his life? Thats the way I saw this situation, and I think the author is making fun of how naive Candide is being, and how he is contradicting himself without even noticing. 

            So it is clear that Voltaire uses satire to contrast the comedy and the tragedy in the book. I noticed this when Candide is running away with Cacambo because of the death of Cunégonde's brother. As I said in the previous paragraph, Candide dressed up as the Colonel in order for people not to notice he was guilty for his death. After that, when he is escaping with Cacambo and Cacambo yells in spanish "Make way, make way for the reverend father Colonel!" (p. 68) I noted another one of the many ironic situations. I believe this because even though that for Candide and Cacambo this was a serious situation, and their lives were at risk if they got caught, I think it was very clever how they just left with no problem at all, even though they had been complaining about how they were going to act to confront the situation moments before.

             It is very common in the book how problems get solved so easily, and how the situations are described with such little detail yet they can be very intense, create a lot of suspense, and then they get solved, the setting changes, and another one of these situations awaits them. So even though it was tragic that Candide killed his future brother-in-law, it is funny how he is worried yet so calm and confused, not knowing what he will do next and always having someone get him out of his problems. But ironically, he is the only one that always ends up alive, and despite the fact that he loses just about every single companion he has had, he always finds another one instantly to who he always gets used to. He is devastated about their death, (for example Pangloss and the Anabaptist) yet doesn't really need them or miss them. 

"I Know How You Feel" "Do You?"

             The old woman's story reflected the imagery of the book, especially thanks to the detailed descriptions the author provides. However, there is irony and absurdity when the old lady says "I am the daughter of Pope Urban X..." (p.49) due to the fact that there has never existed a Pope Urban X, showing how discreet the author is. Despite the fact that the old lady had made it clear that her story was truly devastating, the way she started it made me realize how bad it was going to end. This is so because she began talking about how perfect her life used to be, and how flawless and beautiful she was, not to mention the prince she was going to marry. But all good things must come to an end right?

              The imagery transmitter to the audience at first is like a Utopia. She had no problems whatsoever, nothing to worry about, she was pretty, had a wealthy family, and was getting married, which was going to be one of the biggest events. She had nothing to worry about, therefore the reader imagines perfection in her life, but also senses how shortly that paradise of hers was going to last, and how bad it was going to end. She was sold many times and suffered as a slave with her mother. "I need not tell you what a hardship it was for a young princess and her mother to be carried to Morocco as slaves, and you can readily imagine what we had to suffer on board the pirate ship" (p. 51) This being said by the old lady, the reader imagines her suffering and how hard it must have been, even though she has not given any further information or detail on what she lived and saw. It is easy to see it coming that at the end of the day, she will wind up all by herself.

            One of the parts where imagery is strongly seen and the audience gets a sense of repugnance, sorrow and goosebumps is when she describes detail by detail the death of her mother, as if it had been yesterday. "In the end I saw my mother and all four italian ladies torn limb from limb, slashed, and massacred by the monsters that fought for them" (p. 52) Not only is the description extremely precise and graphic, but the tone of the old lady makes it sound even more real. It is a tone of sadness and disappointment as well as loneliness, after all, her mother was all she had left. You can easily see how destroyed she is, and you know what they say about time healing all wounds? That clearly isn't happening here, since she remembers it perfectly, showing her pain and devastation. Another thing that demonstrates how destroyed she is after telling her story, is when she says " I should never have spoken of my misfortunes if you had not provoked me a little..." (p. 57) shows the audience the sadness she feels when thinking about her past, as well as how it affected her so much, that she still (after all this time) cant get over it.

The way the author describes her past is crystal clear

            I would say that tone and imagery, (after satire) are what makes the audience connect to the book as well as feel it and its characters. The story of the old woman really made me feel how she was feeling, as if she were talking to me. But as unexpected as this book is, who knows if she will still be "with us" by the end?

Is She Back?

            What happened in the next ten pages of the book was very unexpected. So far, they have been the most interesting events. However, as I read, many questions came to my head. When the strange woman gave Candide shelter and food, the one he thought was the love of his life, when she says "It is not my hand you should kiss" (p. 38) I couldn't help but conclude that there was someone else waiting for him. Of course, Lady Cunégonde wasn't an option, after all, she had died at the beginning of the book. After this scene, I began asking myself who that woman was, ahd why was she so interested in helping Candide. What does she want from Candide? Does she want to earn his confidence in order to do something bad to him in the future? Why did she appear so out of the blue? And most importantly, who´s hand is Candide supposed to kiss?

            Of course, these questions got answered as I read more. Turns out that Lady Cunégonde was still alive! What I liked about Lady Cunégonde being back, was the thrill of knowing she hadn't died. I believe the author made it clear to the audience that she was dead in the first place in order for all these questions to pop into ones head, and be surprised by the new unexpected event. However, I found ironic how everyone important in Candide´s life dies so soon in the book. All the main characters (James, Pangloss, Lady Cunégonde) that are important in Candide's life die, or are thought to be dead in Lady Cunégonde´s case. So if these characters go through almost the same things Candide goes through, why does the author make them sound so important and then tells us they die? Does this mean that in the future more characters that will make a "difference" in the book´s ending and the character´s destiny will appear?

            However, the fact that Lady Cunégonde is back so fast makes me think that she will stay with Candide throughout the whole book and have an impact. This is so because I believe that her return has been one of the most important events in the book so far, and the author wouldn't have made her go and come back and made such a big deal out of it if it weren't important. Right?

            So what will finally happen with these two? Will they go through everything that awaits together or apart and then find themselves again? Will one of them eventually die? I love the fact that the book, even though I haven't even got through the middle of it yet, has me so intrigued. These questions that have popped into my head are what makes me want to keep going to find out what will happen next. And if it isn't obvious, the return of Lady Cunégonde has been one of the most sudden yet fascinating events that has happened so far, not to mention the death of Pangloss and James. So the only way to answer these questions is to keep on going, maybe in the next five pages they will be answered.

"Can this really be Cunégonde?" cried Candide "you are still alive then?" (p.39)

"Candide" in the Outside World: Connections?

         

              Finding a book that gets me reading without stopping is very hard for me, especially those books of old literature which are the ones that I hate the most. I thought this was going to happen with "Candide", but in fact, the complete opposite thing occurred. As I read, I could perfectly picture what was going on in my head, not to mention how interesting the book was. Since the beginning of the book, I could clearly notice  the four elements of satire: irony, hyperbole, target, and absurdity. The author´s tone creates a lot of sarcasm, so at times the reader does not know if he is talking seriously or sarcastically. 

             In my opinion, this book connects to "The Odyssey" by Homer. What made me realize this at first was the time period and the situation. Since they are both very old works, I connected them right away and noticed the following similarities: The main character leaves home, and suffers because the woman they love can´t be with them. In "The Odyssey", this happens with Ulysses, when he leaves Penelope, and in "Candide", this happens when Candide has to leave Lady Cunégone behind as well. Something else I found similar was the fact that as the book advanced, they seemed farther away from the woman they loved. In "The Odyssey", Penelope had tons of admirers and was slowly losing hope on meeting with Ulysses again, and in "Candide" Lady Cunégone dies of sickness. I found the imagery from both texts very similar, especially then these two main characters have to go through after they go home. But how does this make the imagery similar? The situations Ulysses and Candide go through in their journey are very ironic. For example, when Ulysses goes to Circe, and how she turned his men into pigs is very unrealistic, even though she is a witch. A situation from "Candide" I could connect to this was when the boat where Candide, James, Pangloss, and other men were in broke in two after suffering a mayor storm, and how  ironically they were on their feet in no time the only ones that survived (except for James, who fell and drowned), and ended up walking in a sea of dead people.

            The irony Voltaire uses is also one if the things that really caught my eye and found very interesting, because I had never had the chance to read a book with such diction and expressions. For example, when Pangloss is talking about Panquette and says "In her arms I taster the delights of Paradise, and they produced these hellish torments by which you see me devoured." (p.30). I found this very ironic and in a way contradictory because paradise is a timeless place, in which everything is positive, no harm is felt and nothing goes wrong. However, Pangloss feels this when he is with her, enjoying it, but it is ironic how he says it produced some "hellish torments", as if the pain of being with her were all that he wanted, yet it can´t be paradise because he suffered and she died, meaning that everything ended, so it was not timeless.

            From what I've read so far, I have really liked the book and it has helped me analyze texts at a higher level, not looking at the situations in the literal sense that they are written but to look beyond for a better understanding. I really like how there is a problem and it is solved right away, and a worse problem emerges. That is what makes the book a page turner and makes me interested in it.