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.
No comments:
Post a Comment