Is this the best of all possible worlds? And does everything happens for the best?
Novel: Candide [pronunciation: can + deed] 1959 |
Author: Voltaire
Is this the best of all possible worlds? or is this the worst of all possible worlds? If it is the best, then why do we have so much misery and evil in the world - misery and evil such as abject poverty, dreadful slavery, horrendous rapes, cunning thefts, bloody wars, and cold-blooded murders? If it is the worst, then why there are good, love, honesty, and self-sacrifices for the sake of others? What about harmony in this world? Is there such a thing known as optimism? Why do we then believe, despite all our evils and miseries, that all will be well in the end? Well, Voltaire takes up these question in his short novela, Candide.
Candide is one of the best-known works of the French philosopher, Voltaire. Published in 1759, this short satirical novel is an antithesis to the philosophy of Optimism by a German philosopher, Gottfried Leibniz. Optimism is the idea that this the “the best of all possible worlds” (Leibniz 228), and that evil is permitted only to direct it towards good. Voltaire not only denounces this philosophy but mocks it in the most satirical way possible by showing the ugly side of the world, trying to assert that not everything is for the best.
Born in Westphalia Germany, the protagonist of the novel, Candide, is a naïve young man who is optimistic about life because he learns from his teacher, professor Pangloss, that everything is for the best in the world. His life is perfect. However, whenever there is perfection, bad luck and misery always creep in and find its ways to disturb the calmness of life. And just like that, one tiny moment of passion becomes the reason of Candide’s expulsion from the castle, which forces him to come out from the comforts of home to the wilderness, cruelness and evilness of the unforgiving world. That moment was falling in love and kissing the beautiful Cunegonde, the daughter of the Baron of the castle.
Then fate makes the hapless Candide travels the whole globe. Disasters befall him one after the other - war, religious prosecution, slavery and violence, which remain relevant even today. Similarly, other characters meet the same fate as Candide’s. Some gets raped, some are deceived, mutilated and humilated, and some are even hanged and killed. For example, Cunegonde, the love of Candide, is nearly butchered to death, gets raped and traded as slave. Another character, Pangloss, who preaches the philosophy that everything is for the best, gets himself hanged in Lisbon but somehow he survives. In short, every character and chapter of the novel are filled with tragedy coupled with dark humor.
Besides Candide and Cunegonde, other interesting characters in the novel are two philosophers, Pangloss and Martin. The former is an optimist and a stern believer that this is the best of all possible worlds, and that everything happens for the best, even evil; the later is a pessimist who believes, in stark contrast to professor Pangloss, that neither this is the best of all possible worlds nor everything happens for the best. The juxtaposition of these black and white views through these characters makes the novela quite an interesting read, and shows Voltaire accumen as a writer.
Voltaire also discusses the institution of slavery throughout the book. The philosophy of Pangloss and Candide seems to suggest that good and evil both play part in the greater good. Voltaire argues that if this is true, then slavery must also be good. As Candide comes across a slave, who is sold by his mother, tells Candide that his mother believed that it was an honor to serve white men. Candide also contemplates that if God has created all men equal then what's is the justification for slavery. Candide, however, true to his beliefs of optimism and the blind follower that he is, upon seeing the wretchedness of the slave, still thinks that slaveery is morally right. One must remember that Voltaire questions slavery at a time when slave trade from Africa to South and North America was at its peak. Voltaire certainly was ahead of his time and deserves applaud for his thinking.
Finally, Candide and his companions settle down in Constantinople (now modern day Turkey) and start working in a farm. They all conclude that pursuing endless questions of philosophy and theology is useless; instead, working hard is the only way to improve and make life tolerable. Pangloss still believes that this the best of all possible worlds, but Candide is no longer interested. "All that is very well," he says, "but let us cultivate our garden."
Candide is written more than 250 years ago, but it is still relevant in the age of technology and social media - even more so today. For instance, we present our lives on social media as perfect, ignoring the fact that nothing can be perfect in this world. It is a human folly to think otherwise. Moreover, it is futile to think that by following some predetermined strategy, formula or remedy, we can become perfect, successful, or get what we deserve. No, the world doesn't work that way. There are no straightforward cause and effect relationships which is generally perceived. Here, randomness rules. And that means, no matter how hard you try, you don't always get the desired outcome, let alone the best. But, if it's true, how to approach life? The answer is simple: accept whatever comes your way - try hard, however don't expect that the best will always greet you.
Let us read together and explore the great classical works. This blog is open to book suggestions.
Sheraz Khan can be reached sherazreads@gmail.com.
Great 👍