Candide Blog #2

Phelps, Sydney; Entry #2
Dear Rachel,
     I am in agreement with you that Voltaire does condemn a lot of religions in this book for being hypocritical or cruel. He condemns Catholicism, Protestants, Islam and he also observes the cruelty and absurdity of the Inquisition. In the auto-da-fe ritual, "Candide was flogged in time with the singing, the Biscayan and the two men who had refused to eat pork were burned, and Pangloss was hanged"(31). Voltaire seems to make a judgment on the cruelty of the Inquisition and these public penances of the auto-da-fe. (I researched what an auto-da-fe was and got my information from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auto-da-f%C3%A9).  He also makes them seems cruel by the absurd "crimes" that they committed. He says they were punished for not eating pork and for talking and listening with an air of approval-- which are ridiculous reasons to be killed or tortured. The reason why Voltaire is so judgmental to religions is that he is a deist and believes in a universal and impersonal God. In the introduction Voltaire says, "I shall blame every nation that has abandoned the universal God for all these phantoms of private gods"(5).
   I was surprised that Cunegonde was alive and returned in the story. I thought she had died and just had been another tragedy in Candide's life. I believer her situation adds to the exaggeration of people's sufferings and life and also brings to light the absurdity of women being traded and sold like slaves and the cruelty of women being treated like property. I think the woman's stories are also very similar to those of Cunegonde's and add to the denial of optimism because of all the evil in the world. (I again got some information of the woman's significance in the story from sparknotes.com).
   I believe that Candide wishes Pangloss was with him very often because terrible things are happening to him and Cunegonde and he can no longer explain these terrible events with Pangloss' philosophy. Candide starts to question the philosophy and says, "If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others like?"(31). Later on, he also says that, "it's the New World that's the best of all possible worlds"(41). But, it seems as though Candide discovers that the New World is no better than Europe because he has to flee and leave Cunegonde in Buenos Aires and he ends up killing Cunegonde's brother. The woman that accompanies them has a worldview based off of her experience in this world and she acknowledges the evil in the world, which Candide fails to acknowledge.
   The woman's talk of suicide almost reminds me of Hamlet's "to be or not to be" speech. She says, "what could be more stupid than to persist in carrying a burden that we constantly want to cast off?"(49). Her reasoning for suicide is similar to Hamlet's, in the aspect that life is so full of burdens and sufferings that it almost seems reasonable to want to end your life. The woman does not believe in optimism like Candide or Cunegonde, rather she is rather pessimistic of this world because of her sufferings. Despite her pessimism, the woman still has hope and "loves life", so she does not commit suicide. I think this reveals that the woman has a strong and courageous character.
  I think Voltaire mentions rape so much because it is a terrible thing to happen to a woman. It just reinforces the idea that this world is full of evils and is not the "best possible world". I think Voltaire also addresses the issue of women being treated like property, being sold, raped, and enslaved.
 

Candide Blog #1

Phelps, Sydney; Entry #1
My dearest and highly esteemed colleague and friend, Rachel, how are thee faring upon these holiday vacations?
        I strongly agree with you that this tale of the quest of Candide is terrible and horrifying. This short novel is extremely satirical and has some dark humor elements as Candide encounters himself in the most ridiculous tragedies of unreasonable misfortune. Voltaire creates these terrible circumstances of death and carnage to reveal how ridiculous Candide's and Pangloss' philosophy is. In the intro to the book it says, "but the author accept[s] neither Martin's pessimism nor Pangloss's optimism at their face value"(8). I think that this makes it clear that Voltaire is trying to satirize and poke fun at the absurdity of total optimism and total pessimism. Through the horrible events that happen to Candide, like him being kicked out of the castle, the war, the shipwreck and the earthquake, Voltaire shows that there is evil in this world and it is very foolish to believe that, "all things are necessarily connected and arranged for the best"(24). I think that Candide and Pangloss are deluded with fanciful ideas and do not see the world at face value for what it is..
       I agree with you that Voltaire portrays Pangloss as a hypocrite. I think he may be trying to make a comment about the philosophers of that day who preached about right and wrong and then went and had affairs or hesitated to help their fellow human beings. I believe we also see this in the Protestant preacher refuses to help Candide when he was starving. The man was preaching for "the good cause"(24), and yet he tells Candide that he does not deserve to eat because he's not against the Pope. It almost seems as though no one is spared from Voltaire's criticism except for James the Anabaptist. Could this be because Voltaire agrees with James' worldview and philosophies? I think from what we've seen is that James has a happy medium of recognizing that there is sin in the world, but he does not fail to help those in need like Candide and Pangloss. What do you think of the Anabaptist, James?
(I got some insight on the importance of the character of James from http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/candide/characters.html).
      To answer your question, I do not believe that it was fair for the baron to kick Candide out of the castle because his daughter, Cunegonde, was the one that came on to him. It also seemed that they had mutual feelings from the way they behaved. I believe Voltaire makes another judgment on the "royal folk" because the baroness would not marry Candide's father because he only had "seventy-one generations of nobility"(17). He criticizes them for being obsessed with their noble lineage more than their character and whether or not they proved to be noble through their actions.
      I found the scene about the war strange. Candide just walks by all the men, women, and children dying without giving a thought about helping them. He deserts the army to go, "reason about cause and effect"(23). It seems as though everyone cares more about their philosophies or their "causes" more than actual people. Do you think seeing the war made Candide question Pangloss' philosophy at all? Also, I think the worst tragedy that Candide has suffered has been the death of Cunegonde-- it seemed like he genuinely cared for her because he did not forget about her and asked Pangloss about her.

PS-- here's a good quote that shows Voltaire's contempt towards philosophers-- "Candide, trembling like a philosopher, hid himself as best as he could during this heroic carnage"(23).

Brave New World #4

Phelps, Entry #4

    Dear Bethany, I think the people of the society do have morals but they are perverted or hidden by the soma. For example. Bernard and Helmholtz have the urge to go help John when he was in the riot even though it would not benefit them at all. When Bernard sees John in the riot he was, "urged by a sudden impulse, ran forward to help them; then thought better of it and halted"(214). I just think it is instilled into them as a society to be selfish or to do things that benefits themselves or the society. Plus, they are pretty drugged with the soma all the time-- and even get soma rationing. I think the soma buries the moral law inside them so they do not see anything wrong. Also, do you think that the lower castes get rationed soma and the upper castes don't because the Alphas are smarter and have to be drugged more? I think that's why they freaked out so much when Bernard was not taking soma or sleeping with girls because they were afraid he was too aware.

    I think the author chose to have John recite Shakespeare because he uses a lot of devices to appeal to people's emotions. The people from the society do not understand what the big deal about love is-- because they've never experienced it. Helmholtz, unable to comprehend Romeo and Juliet, thinks, "getting into such a state about having a girl-- it seemed rather ridiculous"(184). I think the people in the society are almost not taught to have feelings for each other and sex is such a common things and nothing special. We also see this when Lenina does not understand why John won't "have her". John quotes Shakespeare and says, "If thou dost break her virgin knot before all sanctimonious ceremonies may with full and holy rite"(191). He thinks that they should get married before sleeping together, thus adding another contrast between his morals and the morals of the society. I think John's "love" for Lenina is under false pretences. I don't think he really loves her-- I think he just likes her because she's pretty or something. Also, I think Lenina seems to like guys who are "different" like Bernard and John. Maybe it is because subconsciously she is unsatisfied with the society. What do you think? Do you think John really loves Lenina or Lenina really likes John?

     One thing that I found very disturbing in the section was the scenes at the "Senility ward"(198), which is like an old folks home for people that are dying. I was very disturbed by the "death conditioning". Basically, they just had kids hang around the dying people so they would get used to death and not be frightened by it. The nurse did not understand why John was so upset that his mom was dying because she had been death conditioned. The nurse says,"undoing all their wholesome death conditioning with this disgusting outcry-- as though death were something terrible, as though any one mattered as much as all that!"(206). I think as well as being death conditioned they are also conditioned not to get attached to people because she did not understand that John will miss his mother when she's gone. What do you think about the death conditioning? 

    I also think we learn in this section that John does not like London and definitely did not live up to what his mother had told him about it. He thinks to himself, "that beautiful, beautiful Other Place, whose memory, as of a heaven, a paradise of goodness and loveliness, he still kept whole and intact, undefiled by contact with the reality of this London"(201).

Brave New World #3

Phelps Entry #3 A Brave New World

       Bethany, I agree with you that the Savages are seen as so dark and depraved because we are seeing it through Lenina's and Bernard's eyes. I think, at least to me, the savages seemed less grotesque than Bernard's and Lenina's society. For example, I think the religious savage ritual was less shocking than Bernard's solidarity/orgy ritual because the savage ritual was almost like a religious celebration and I could understand the motives behind it. John said the ritual was, "for the sake of the pueblo-- to make the rain come and the corn grow. And to please Pookong and Jesus"(117). The whipping was almost like a punishment sacrifice and Lenina could not understand that nor understand the religious aspect and that's why she was so frightened. What do you think of the Savages' culture? To me it seems like they're a whole bunch of cultures all jumbled up because they talk about Jesus but then they also worship Pookong who is a Native America god.

      They brought John into the society to study him and his mother, the "savages". Mustapha Mond, The Ford, says he finds them of, "sufficient scientific interest"(141). Also in regard to the story, John brings some insight of the society and his response to it. John says, "O brave new world that has such people in it"(139) as a response to being invited to go to London with Bernard. What significance do you think this phrase play in John's attitude towards the society? I know John is not very surprised by the technology of the society as Bernard writes,"The Savage... shows surprisingly little astonishment at, or awe of, civilized inventions. This is partly due, no doubt, to the fact that he has heard them talked about by the woman Linda"(158). Although he is not surprised by the technology, he is struck by their lack of morals. In his society there is a set of right and wrong like marriage, murder, lying, etc. But in Lenina and Bernard's society the morals are totally different and they do not fight against there physical desires. In this section we see John fight against his attraction towards Lenina, which is unheard of in their society and it upsets Lenina. While at a "feeling film" John, "looked down at [Lenina] for a moment, pale, pained, desiring, and ashamed of his desire. He was not worthy"(169). (By the way, what did you think of the "feeling film"? I found it interesting.) Again, here we see John struggle against his physical desires which is something that sets him apart from Lenina and the society.

      As for Bernard, I am quite disappointed in his lack of character. I thought he was good because he fought the system of the society and he did not agree with it. I think now we see that the only reason why he did not like it was because he did not fit in. Now this new found discovery and success is going to his head. He also boasts to Helmholtz about his savages and, "success went fizzily to Bernard's head, and in the process completely reconciled him to a world which, up till then, he had found very unsatisfactory"(157). Also, as you pointed out, he is now getting all the girls. I think in due time he will regret his behavior after all this commotion about the savages calms down and he is no longer popular. What do you think about his character change?