Voltaire's Candide

In my 2008 calendar diary there is a quote on each page. On one page was a famous deathbed declaration from Voltaire in response to a priest asking that he renounce Satan - Now, now my good man, this is no time for making enemies.

It made me laugh out loud. I had heard about Voltaire of course, but I had never read anything of him. After reading this quote, and after speaking to one of my French friend, I decided to give him a go and bought “Candide.” When I first started reading it, I was quite not at ease with the writing style. That wasn’t enough to dislike the book, so I waited until I got further involved in the plot. Once I did get involved, writing style did not bother me. Perhaps because by that time it no longer felt odd. From the very beginning the first thing I noticed and liked was Voltaire’s cynicism. He does it with such a style that if he was doing it in real life, I believe a person being insulted would not have realised it was an insult for at least few minutes.

Through eyes of naive Candide, Voltaire exposes the flaws of fellow humans. Despite his many experiences, Candide refuses to see the truth of his fellow humans and instead chooses to stick to philosophy taught by Pangloss. It is only at the very end - after, he ends up marrying now ugly Cunegonde - that Candide comes to realise that perhaps world is not the place Pangloss insisted it was. Pangloss himself has come to realise that, but he carries on pretending to maintain his belief rather than admit he was wrong.

Despite his naivety and despite believing himself to be a good man, Candide has not managed to escape Voltaire’s irony. He believes especially in the theories of his master Pangloss when it suits him - like killing his sweetheart’s brother (several times if necessary), or worshipping his sweetheart’s beauty, valuing people for their misfortunes, and refusing consistently to see the truth of his fellow men that proves Pangloss’ philosophy to be a complete nonsense.

It was a great read, and I look forward to reading more things from Voltaire.