I stand corrected: greater satire exists beyond that in Slaughterhouse Five. Candide sounds like candy to me, which is sweet and a childish thing, yet what happens to Candide in Candide is nothing like candy, except maybe the irony it contains, which believe me I have savored with as much intensity as an anorexic savors a gummy bear.
There is no doubt that almost every single thing (if not all) said, described and narrated in Candide has a hidden meaning where different ruling aspects of modern times are targeted and attacked by means of irony, hyperbole and absurdity. "Those who have never seen two well-trained armies drawn up for battle, can have no idea of the beauty and brilliance of the display," (p-age 25). War, optimism, fanaticism ("For it is impossible for things not to be where they are, because everything is for the best," (page 35) again and again, over and over) and faith are all included, yet in this blog entry I would like to center more on the story and the characters. I can't help being reminded of a certain mutual childhood friend, I am pretty sure I share with most if not all the people who happen to read this blog, known as Forrest Gump. Just like Forrest, Candide is a young man who we now know is as naive as it gets without having a learning disability or mental retardation (even though Forrest does happen to have one). I am sure this similarity can be made with Candide and other long known characters of the literary world, yet what makes Candide's story most like Forrests' is the series of events that both face during their life. Unlike Forrests' experiences, which all lead to honor and praise as well as admiration, Candide's are catastrophic to an extreme far from improbable and even possible. Either way, both characters undergo what we understand under the common category of "extraordinary" circumstances by means of their naiveness (Candide) and stupidity (Forrest). Opposite poles of extraordinary, one being too good to be true, and the other too bad to be true, no one can deny that they do indeed bear a resemblance.
I have not read Slaughter House five, but from your previous post i must say that i am intrigued to see the relationship og both books when it comes to satire.Regarding your cmment on the movie Forrest Gump, i agree that their naiveness is one of the factors that either gets them into catastrophic tragdy's or teaches them a life long lesson. In Candide, Voltaire chooses Satire to define the text, but in the movie,the director chooses a unique approach. He tries to explain ceratin events in history through Gump's life. For example, the invention of the smiley face or the phrase "shit happens", are showed as if the character had infact a huge impact in our world.
ReplyDeleteI agree with everything you mentioned in your blog and I also agree with Andressa's comment, which only helped me see the relationship between Forest Gump and Candide even more clearly. In both stories, the main character is described as someone who has a great impact on the world, but in the end, they have done nothing to really revolutionize the planet. Both stories are absurd in their own way because of the situations the main characters get themselves into. The only difference between these stories is that Forest is eventually looked up too as a hero because of all the things he did without meaning to. Candide on the other hand, is slowly turning into a villain. This difference only makes the comparison even more interesting than all the similarities.
ReplyDelete