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| 08 Oct 2012 06:36 PM |
The following is an essay written by me that I am about to print. Feel free to point out errors.
Voltaire’s Candide is a satire based on the European culture during the Enlightenment. Many concepts of that time period were greatly exaggerated beyond reason in this book. Martin is included in the book in chapter 19, when Candide essentially hires Martin to accompany him on his trip to Venice. He adds a more realistic perspective on the events of the book than Candide does. Martin’s view point on life is based off of the general stereotyped peasant mood of that time. He is very pessimistic. He believes that everything is horrible and that nothing can ever or will ever change for the better. Most peasants of this era thought this way; they knew that life was bad, but they did not realize it could be made better. He also realizes how valuable money is, and will do almost anything for it. Many people during The Enlightenment also valued money, because during that time period it was very important, and hard to obtain. It was very difficult to obtain at that time, and was very valuable to lower class Europeans. Martin is not very pessimistic, but he thinks realistically, and looks very pessimistic in comparison to Candid. Martin’s relative pessimism is illustrated clearly on page 102 of Candide. After watching the pirate’s ship sink, Candide made a positive comment about the justice being done, because his assailant drowned. Candide was also happy because one of his sheep got returned to him when he thought that he had lost It forever. Martin then replied by saying “But why should the passengers be doomed also to destruction.” (Voltaire 102). This was a relatively pessimistic way of viewing what would otherwise be a very positive event. For the rest of the trip, Martin argued with Candide about the nature of the world. Martin constantly persisted that the world only exists to drive its inhabitants mad, arguing against Candide’s more optimistic position. Martin also believes that things will never change for the better. This could be considered a form of pessimism in the modern era, but during the time at which this book took place, this was more a matter of not knowing any differently. Most peasants during the Enlightenment Era shared this characteristic, but Martin possesses a more satirized and exaggerated variation of this quality. This is expressed clearly on page 105, when Martin states that “If hawks have always had the same character then why should you imagine that men have changed theirs?”(Voltaire 105). This concept implies that the world, and those that live in it, have never and will never change their nature. Martin argues with Candide that the world will never change for the better, and that people will continue to be “liars, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites and fools” (Voltaire 105). Much like most people of the established time period, Martin seems to do anything for money. On page 96, Candide offers two thousand piasters to the person who has led the most miserable life to assist on his venture to get to Venice to reunite with Cunegonde. Although this was a very large commitment, many people wanted to be chosen because they are desperate, and will do anything for money. Martin was one of these people. For merely two thousand piasters, Martin had eagerly agreed to sail across the world with someone he had just met to a city that he had been to before, and did not have a good experience there. He is only doing this for the money that Candide paid him. In conclusion, Martin is Voltaire’s satirized version of the average peasant at that time period. Much like many of these peasants, Martin thinks realistically, will do almost anything for money, and believes that nothing will change for the better. Most lower class people during the Enlightenment thought similarly to this. They believed that the way things are is the way things had always been, and had no inclination to change it, simply because it didn’t occur to them that they could. They were also very desperate most of the time, and would probably go very far for even a little bit of money. Martin also adds a realistic perspective to the story, which is not found anywhere else. Voltaire included Martin in Candide to include a satirization of the lower class in Candide.
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stieffer
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| Joined: 02 Sep 2012 |
| Total Posts: 41 |
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| 08 Oct 2012 06:38 PM |
everything
because this isn't /l/
(i made up /l/ as learning) |
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| 08 Oct 2012 06:40 PM |
tl;dr
By the way, I found a few grammar errors when I soared through some of it...
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| 08 Oct 2012 06:42 PM |
| Hmmm.... There may be a few words in there that may not have been smart to put on ROBLOX. Oh well, If my ELA teacher thinks it's okay, then I'm sure the mods will too. |
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