The Pursuit of Happiness
Natalie Chang
IEP #05
Mr. deGroof
G12 English Literature Class
Natalie Chang #05
Candide, a novel immerses itself with numerous satirical topics,
particularly features a subject that is mentioned and reiterated throughout the
novel—Optimism. Whether it is Pangloss’s teaching or the justification of
Pangloss’s syphilis, the idea of optimism is omnipresent in the novel. By
rehashing the phrase “best of all possible worlds”, Voltaire satirizes Gottfried
Wilhelm Leibniz’s idea of optimism, which is god creates the world for all the best.
Furthermore, garden is a big emblem in the book, and the garden in the final
paragraph, especially, represents not only the book Candide’s but also Voltaire’s
central philosophy that becomes a foil to Leibniz’s belief of optimism.
The gardens in the book each symbolizes different place, for instance, the
castle of the baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh that Candide and Cunegonde lived in
resembles the Garden of Eden in Genesis, in which Candide and Cunegonde are
analogous to Adam and Eve. El dorado, on the other hand, represents Voltaire’s
“utopia” where freedom and equality are fostered. Whereas in the final chapter,
the garden they lived in is tremendously different from the other two gardens. For
instance, if we compare Candide’s life in the castle of the baron and the garden
in the final chapter, we could observe that the first one is where all the misery
emerges after kissing Cunegonde, as for the latter it is where he experiences the
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peacefulness after the storm. The beginning and the ending of the novel echo
and contrast each other by its setting in two different gardens.
In the final chapter of Candide, the garden represents the place where the
journey ends and happiness was found; as for castle of the baron, also as the
Garden of Eden, it is where the Fall initiated. In addition, the garden of the final
chapter, symbolizes where true happiness comes from—lives under simplicity
and hard work. Throughout the novel, Candide and Pangloss see all the
situations with rose-colored glasses that caused them continuously unable to
withdraw themselves from the torments. Finally, after a series of tragedies,
Candide has an epiphany that only human efforts could liberate themselves. This
idea of Meliorism is presented in the famous line ”we must cultivate our
garden”(Ch.30).
Candide’s final statement ”we must cultivate our garden,” means that by
human efforts, we could control our own fate. Instead of blindly following
Pangloss’s optimism, which results in numerous hardships, Candide, at last,
decided to abandon optimism and believe in meliorism. Meliorism is a belief that
improvements could be done by human effort, which it is a philosophy that
Voltaire praises. Through the character Candide, Voltaire indirectly conveys his
belief of meliorism and his satire of optimism.
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If we examine the line “we must cultivate our garden” closely, we could
see that “cultivate” means literally to pick up the hoe and work hard physically,
and “garden” symbolizes people’s own lives and happiness. Candide realizes
that anticipating for all the best would never take him to what he is yearning for;
therefore, after seeing the Turk, Candide was inspired by the him and starts
thinking for himself and each of the members living in the garden eventually
discovers their own talent. Candide’s final statement encourages all of them that
in order to find true happiness(life in garden), one must work actively to pursue
it(cultivate it). Martin claims that “man was bound to live either in convulsions of
misery or in the lethargy of boredom.”(Ch.30) It seems that only “cultivating our
garden” could people escape from both misery and boredom. It was after
Candide and all of the characters experienced such misfortunes in lives could
they find what true happiness is.
The garden in the book is not only where Candide, Pangloss, and other
characters feel content at last, but also the place where Voltaire feels happiness
in his real life. The reason Voltaire concluded this book with his idea presented
by human efforts in the garden is that Voltaire himself was in a parallel situation
as they are. In 1759 when he wrote Candide, Voltaire was inhabited in an estate
near Geneva, Les Délices. In Les Délices, Voltaire enjoyed farming in his own
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garden and the physical labor work to keep himself busy (Candide's final
philosophy of life). By comparing the situations of both sides, the garden in the
final chapter resembles greatly with that of Voltaire cultivating the garden in Les
Délices. We could observe that the ultimate philosophy of Candide—Meliorism,
could also represent the final philosophy of Voltaire.
It takes Candide his whole life to come to the conclusion that in order to
find true pleasure, one must toil assiduously to accomplish it. Furthermore, the
famous line “we must cultivate our garden” serves as the central idea of the novel,
which is the transformation of Candide’s belief, from extreme optimism to
meliorism. Ultimately, the pursuit of happiness is for us to get out of the comfort
zone and to work indefatigably.
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Bibliography:
-Ben Florman and Justin Kestler, LitCharts Editors. "LitChart on
Candide." LitCharts.com. LitCharts LLC. 2015. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.litcharts.com/lit/candide/>
- Gopnik, Adam. "Voltaire's Garden." The New Yorker Magazine. N.p.,
07 Mar. 2005. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/03/07/voltaires-garden>
- Shmoop Editorial Team. "Candide Symbolism, Imagery & Allegory."
Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 16 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.shmoop.com/candide/symbolism-imagery.html>
- "Candide's Final Philosophy of Life." Candide's Final Philosophy of Life.
Blueyonder, n.d. Web. 15 Jan. 2015.
<http://www.dyendley.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Candide's%20final%20philosophy%
20of%20life.html>