For The Best…

The determination of Candide to continue devoting his life to the idea that all is for the best is amazing. In previous posts I have talked about Cunégonde’s disappointment towards the teachings Pangloss had once so devoutly expressed and the beginnings of Candide’s realization that those teachings could not be true due to the great suffering he had lived. In Chapters 16-17 we see the obstinate Candide, Voltaire is now prepared to show his great disappointment and rejection of people that agree that all is for the best. Being kidnapped by the Oreillons, Candide states that no “doubt all is for the best, but I must say it is very cruel to have lost Lady Cunégonde and to be skewered by the Oreillons” (71). Voltaire is making fun of Candide, showing how even Candide thinks that this is not the best that could be happening. It is interesting how the author is able to make fun of him in his speech, the essence of Candide is shown to be simplistic and illogical in his words. How can all be for the best if you just lost the love of your life, your true single purpose and you are just to be eaten by a crazy group of people?

Candide also shows an appreciation for nature when problems are finally resolved. He says that when “all is said and done, there is a sterling goodness in unsophisticated Nature” (72). According to Candide, things may not work out exactly as you expect them to come out but they will be eventually be resolved and all will be good. In the link below you can find a short clip of the musical production of Candide. Between 0:29 and 0:54 there is a representation of the teachings of Pangloss and his brainwashed students which I found very comical. You can see how this part of the musical shows the four students to be absolutely absorbed in the words they are saying, it seems that what they’re telling is the most obvious truth they have ever had the opportunity to say. The representation is very credible since it shows the general image seen in Candide’s words about Pangloss’ teachings.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPClzIsYxvA

Voltaire has great timing, he tells us only what we need to know in order to understand that he will continue his master joke. As Candide expresses his feelings towards Eldorado he states that it is “probably the country where all goes well [. . .] I often noticed that all went badly in Westphalia” (77). The comparison Candide makes between his old and new settings, is important for the reader to understand that the main character is still living based on the same old framework, even though he still criticizes what he lived in the past. We can observe a double-sided perception Candide has about this idea that all is for the better: he accepts it, and lives with it in his mind but his heart forces him to reject the horrible moment he has been through. It is as if you try to believe something that deep down you know not to be true, when in fact you have suffered immensely and it has become impossible to wrap this horrendous, stark reality into that light context.