The Naive Protagonists of Candide and Forrest Gump
Society can be, and is, corrupt in many different ways. Within our lives we are subject, but not limited to, corruptions within religion, corruptions of morals, and corruption within the government. Voltaire, the author of Candide, and Robert Zemeckis, the director of "Forrest Gump", both use grotesquely naïve protagonists to illustrate their view of the world in which they live. Nevertheless, Candide and Forrest, surrounded by a corrupt society, and bombarded by various character defining events, are able to come to a higher understanding as to their philosophy of life.
Candide, by Voltaire, is a story about an optimistic young man who encounters various
…show more content…
He becomes an All-American, is present during the integration of his college, and is sent to Vietnam after being drafted into the army. Later, Forrest receives the Medal of Honor, is present during the anti-war movement, plays a crucial role in Watergate, and finally becomes a multi-million dollar business tycoon. Through all of this, Forrest holds one thing true in his mind: Jenny. Jenny is his first and only love. Next to his mother, she's the most important thing in his life, and the only thing he really wants. Yet, despite constant disappointments concerning Jenny, Forrest maintains his sweet-tempered, innocently naïve philosophy of life.
Voltaire and Zemeckis share a similar view concerning the corruptions within a society. While making a point that though corruption is evident, and life can be very uncertain, it's entirely up to the individual as to the outcome of his or her future.
Throughout their lives, Candide and Forrest experience just about everything that is humanly possible to endure. In the end, they both make the choice to wind up essentially where they began; content and fulfilled.
In Candide, Voltaire uses general criticisms paired with specific examples to illustrate his idea concerning the contemporary corruption of the time. It is a "grinning critique of the 18th century's excesses and cruelties" (Kanfer 1). With Candide,
Voltaire's Candide is the story of how one man's adventures affect his philosophy on life. Candide begins his journey full of optimism that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds," but he learns that it is naïve to say that good will eventually come of any evil.
In Candide, Voltaire satirizes many forces within society that he believes are unjust. Unfortunately, many of the forces still exist today. In my opinion, the force that has caused the most pain and suffering in Candide as well as in society today is corruption. Webster defines corruption as “dishonest or illegal behavior, especially by powerful people.” Typically the intention of corruption is some kind of personal gain. In Candide as well as today’s world, people use their power and influence over others for their own gain.
Even though many people practiced this doctrine Voltaire did not aside with it instead, he implanted doubts on the chances of achieving true happiness and real conformism. Voltaire’s opinion was that one could not achieve true happiness in the real world but only experience it in an utopia. With the many hardships that Candide goes through ultimately leads him to abandon his attitude of optimism. Candide’s misfortunes and adversities often contrasted with his optimistic view on life. Noticeably, Voltaire uses this satirical piece as a way to criticize this exaggerated optimism. This tale as stated by William Bottiglia, “ Has had a great effect on modern writers who confront mankind’s inhumanity to fellow human beings by presenting the human condition absurdly, ironically, and humorously...” (Bottiglia 112).
Voltaire’s Candide can be understood in several ways by its audience. At a first glance it would appear to be simply a story blessed with outrageous creativity, but if you look deeper in to the novel, a more complicated and meaningful message is buried within. Voltaire uses the adventures of Candide as a representation of what he personally feels is wrong within in society. Written in the 18th century (1759), known commonly as the age of enlightenment, Voltaire forces his audience to consider the shift from tradition to freedom within society. He achieves this by exploring the reality of human suffering due to
Voltaire's Candide is a novel that is interspersed with superficial characters and conceptual ideas that are critically exaggerated and satirized. The parody offers cynical themes disguised by mockeries and witticism, and the story itself presents a distinctive outlook on life narrowed to the concept of free will as opposed to blind faith driven by desire for an optimistic outcome. The crucial contrast in the story deals with irrational ideas as taught to Candide about being optimistic by Pangloss, his cheerful mentor, versus reality as viewed by the rest of the world through the eyes of the troubled character, Martin. This raises the question of whether or not the notion of free will is valid due to Candide’s peculiar timing of his
In the novel, Voltaire shows that Candide also expresses tyranny touching upon the values of power of reason and progress and potential. A specific scene on progress and potential states “He then informed the Baron that he was going to marry his sister. ‘I shall never allow her to disgrace herself so meanly,’ said the
In Candide Voltaire discusses the exploitation of the female race in the eighteenth century through the women in the novel. Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman suffer through rape and sexual exploitation regardless of wealth or political connections. These characters possess very little complexity or importance in Candide. With his characterization of Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman Voltaire satirizes gender roles and highlights the impotence of women in the 1800s.
Philosophy and reality do not line up for the most part. Their disconnect is where the main conflict of the story lies. Over the course of his many travels and encounters with many colorful different strangers, Candide’s idea that this is the best of all possible worlds, stemming from his learning at Pangloss’s side, begins to make a shift. There is a startling disconnect between that philosophy and Candide’s gritty reality. It is only through realizing how
Voltaire rejected Lebitizian Optimism, using Candide as a means for satirizing everything that was wrong with the world, and showing that, in reality, this is not the best of all possible
Candide is a reflection of the philosophical values of the Enlightenment. Voltaire’s novel is a satire of the Old Regime ideologies in which he critiques the political, social, and religious ideals of his time.
In Voltaire’s Candide, we are taken by the hand through an adventure which spanned two continents, several countries, and to a multitude of adverse characters. The protagonist, Candide, became the recipient of the horrors which would be faced by any person in the 18th century. But Candide was always accompanied with fellows sufferers, two of which our focus will lay, Pangloss and Martin. In equal respects, both are embodiments of different philosophies of the time: Pangloss the proponent of Optimism and Martin the proponent of Pessimism. Each of the two travelers is never together with Candide, until the end, but both entice him to picture the world in one of their two philosophies. Throughout the story there is an apparent ebb and flow
Voltaire does most of his satirizing through the character of Dr. Pangloss, an unconditional follower of Leibnitz’s philosophy and Candide’s mentor. Pangloss’ ramblings are not personal attacks on Leibnitz, but in some way represent the thoughts of a typical optimist. He is a very hopeful character in the story because he refuses to accept bad. When Candide encounters Pangloss after a long period of time, Pangloss explains how he was almost hanged, then dissected, then beaten. Candide asks the philosopher if he still believes that everything is for the best, and Pangloss replies that he still held his original views. Voltaire frequently exaggerates his point on optimism; there is nobody in reality who is positive about everything all the time, especially after so many horrible experiences. One could say that Pangloss is irrational and idiotic, and Voltaire tries to depict how inexplicable his beliefs are which do not measure up to reality.
Voltaire also illustrated in Candide that society as a whole places more emphasis on physical appearance than on inner beauty. Throughout much of the story, Candide is obsessed with the idea of being reunited with Cunegonde. Candide speaks of how beautiful his future bride is and of how much he really loves her. As the story concludes, Candide is reunited with Cunegonde only to find that she has become ugly. Candide has a change of heart and
Voltaire’s Candide is a satirical fiction that was meant as both an insult and a criticism to the wealthy nobility and the Catholic Church. Voltaire, major voice during the Enlightenment period, had a wide spread influence from England and France to Russia. Candide was massively circulated throughout Europe. Voltaire used Candide to offer his opinion of what was wrong with society: being that the wealthy were ungrateful, selfish people and the church was a ruthless, maniacal super power.
Today, Candide is used in the study of European Enlightenment thinkers and philosophers as a first-hand account of the faults within the value systems of government, religion, and society during the 18th Century. Through its sarcastic portrayal of seemingly absurd customs and traditions, Candide illustrates Europe in all of its flawed glory. As a prominent figure of the Enlightenment, Voltaire sought to publicize his views on society in a digestible, entertaining, and condensed medium like Candide (“Voltaire”). Written in a period of exile and fear in his life, Candide acted as Voltaire’s biting response to the crushing weight of outdated societal customs.