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colonial tendencies in Gulliver's travels by Jonathan Swift
colonial tendencies in Gulliver's travels by Jonathan Swift
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Satirical works cause the reader to delve into the story and search for the message, rather than telling a story straightforwardly like newspaper articles do. Both Swift and Voltaire succeed in using and applying satire to their work in order to explain to the readers the life-hood of the eighteenth century. Even though, their stories might be fictional you can certainly recognize some events that really did happen in the past, for example, the idea of Spanish colonization of the Americas to search for gold, the idea of wars, and many other similarities. Both writers succeeded in laying the ideas of war, its benefits, and its downfall. Both Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Voltaire’s Candide explain the voyages of exceptionally gullible and innocent individuals to lands far from home whose outlooks on life, war, status, and education differ drastically from that of their own society, causing them to see their home societies very differently. Swift and Voltaire attitude toward war is very similar in which they both try to show the downfall of it, while they are different in using different approaches to explain it.
The attitude toward war between Swift and Voltaire is similar in which the lands both Gulliver and Candide visit are stricken by war and violence, while both Swift and Voltaire satirize the extremities of war in the modern society and the unnecessary horrors the people of those lands had to go through. The main reason Candide is forced to keep traveling is because his former home were destroyed in a battle and it became unsafe for him due to the violent soldiers all around the countries. On the other hand, some of the places Gulliver visits don’t usually take part of war; rather they seemed puzzled by the idea of war and...
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...view as he says at the end “we must cultivate our garden” (Swift 413), while both writes share similarities regarding the concept of war, their ideology is evidently different. While Swift tries to show that war is driven by human greed and it is always harmful to the people, Voltaire tries to have hopeful views that war might be the cause of a benefit or an advantage to someone or a country. In the end, war is usually harmful to both sides; the consequence is always dire, while the out-come is the death of countless innocent people.
Works Cited
Swift, Jonathan. "Gulliver’s Travels." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol. D. New York: Norton, 2012. 265-321. Print.
Voltaire. "Candide, or Optimism." The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Gen. ed. Martin
Puchner. 3rd ed. Vol. D. New York: Norton, 2012. 352-415. Print.
The author, Voltaire, wrote in the Enlightenment period, a literary movement characterized by the rising concern of philosophy, science, and politics. Voltaire’s writing was influenced by the Enlightenment movement to create awareness of global issues. This is evident in the repeated tragedies Candide stumbles upon. Social issues, corrupt authority figures, and war are real world topics that Voltaire chooses to address in Candide. The satirical nature of Candide allows for an in-depth discussion between the characters regarding the problems they face and the problems of the people they meet, creating a perspective that the audience is forced to look through. It is also a coming of age story, not just for Candide, but for the rising awareness in global issues. Voltaire’s inclusion of the issues of his time reflect the severity of those issues. Satire is used as a reaction to a society’s hypocrisy. Candide as a satirical piece reflects what people have neglected to pay attention to. Coming into a new era of awareness and responsibility leads Candide to reflect on the live he lived in Westphalia and the people he encountered across
Voltaire uses satire in order to attempt to bring about change by mocking the thinking of many Enlightenment philosophers of his time. Voltaire also utilizes other literary devices such as irony and sarcasm to make his satire more effective. One example of Voltaire’s use of satire is evidently clear in the way he talks about the belief of Candide and Pangloss as their world being “the best of all possible worlds”. Voltaire depicts both Candide and Pangloss suffering immense and repeated tragedies yet still believing that their world is “the best of all possible worlds”. Another clear example of satirical irony comes in Candide’s encounter with Eldorado. Candide and his “valet” Cacambo come accross Eldorado which is a seemingly perfect world that is
Satire refers to the practice of making fun of human weaknesses or character flaws. Even though satire is making fun of someone or something, its purpose is to actually derive a reaction or disapproval from the person who reads it. For example, Candide was consequently banned from the baron’s castle, “the best of all possible worlds”. Voltaire used satire in this quote to demolish the concept of optimism. He was trying to convey that the world was not the best of all possible worlds. For this reason, Voltaire included El Dorado, which he thought was the best of all possible worlds. The problem of evil ties into this quote also. Voltaire mocked god by basically saying, if god is all powerful, then why is the world that we live in full of tragedies and disasters? There was a great amount of events that occurred to prove there was evil. The Bulgar-Abar conflict, the severe thunderstorm, the seeming death of Cunégonde and the legit death of her parents, and the experiences during the investigation are instances of evil in Candide. Another example of satire in Candide is the optimism of Candide and Pangloss. Even after the earthquake, rapes, disease, and execution, Candide and Pangloss kept ahold of their Optimism. Voltaire decided to use satire on the subject of optimism to show that the world is not a fairytale; there is evil whether it’s natural or committed by people. Romantic love is also an idea Voltaire chose to Satirize. As you know, Candide goes through hell and back to receive the love of Cunégonde. Soon Candide’s hopes are shattered and he finds out that Cunégonde has become ugly. He falls out of love with her therefore, signifying his love for Cunégonde was never legit. His love was more of thirst for a beautiful face than
Leibniz, sometimes regarded as a Stoic or Fatalist because his philosophies were based on the idea that everything in the world was determined by fate, theorized that God, having the ability to pick from an infinite number of worlds, chose this world, "the best of all possible worlds." Although Voltaire chose that simple quality of Leibniz's philosophy to satirize, Leibniz meant a little more than just that. Even though his philosophy stated that God chose "the best of all possible worlds," he also meant that God, being the perfection he is, chose the best world available to him, unfortunately it was a world containing evil. It seems as though Voltaire wanted to ridicule Leibniz's philosophy so much that he chose to satirize only the literal meaning and fatal acceptance of evil of Leibniz's philosophy.
In his work, Candide, Voltaire uses satire as a means of conveying his opinions about many aspects of European society in the eighteenth century. Voltaire successfully criticizes religion, the military, and the philosophy of optimism.
...reflected critically on the events of his life—even just the two examples used in this essay--, he would probably find that this is not the best of all possible worlds as it is rife with evil and suffering. With this novella, Voltaire made the point that some spend a lifetime justifying—not rationalizing—the events of the world because those same people are too busy attempting to prove one theory rather than develop others that may fit reality more. When Candide dismisses Pangloss at the end of the novella by saying, “Let us cultivate our garden,” he is rejecting Pangloss’ philosophy, turning over a new leaf, and taking charge of his own life and giving it its own meaning free of Pangloss’ influence.
In Voltaire’s Candide, we are taken by the hand through an adventure which spanned two continents, several countries, and to a multitude of adverse characters. The protagonist, Candide, became the recipient of the horrors which would be faced by any person in the 18th century. But Candide was always accompanied with fellows sufferers, two of which our focus will lay, Pangloss and Martin. In equal respects, both are embodiments of different philosophies of the time: Pangloss the proponent of Optimism and Martin the proponent of Pessimism. Each of the two travelers is never together with Candide, until the end, but both entice him to picture the world in one of their two philosophies. Throughout the story there is an apparent ebb and flow from Candide on how to think of the world. By the end of his journey, Candide will be presented with evidence to lead to his agreement of either Optimism or Pessimism. But I submit, Candide does not become a firm believer in either philosophies but rather retains a philosophy in between Optimism and Pessimism, somewhat of a stoic mentality. Thus Voltaire’s opinion on philosophy will be predicated upon his character, Candide.
The philosophical works of Voltaire, such as Candide, influenced the beginning of the French Revolution, promoting new ideas and concepts. Voltaire used both wit and sarcasm to prove his points against injustice and cruelty. Voltaire was exiled to England for many years, and while there, he became influenced by the English government systems, associated himself with Sir Isaac Newton, John Locke, and Sir Francis Bacon. Voltaire wrote many well known works, but Candide is the most widely read and considered to have the most profound impact on the French Revolution. In Candide, Voltaire uses his character Pangloss to imitate the extreme ways of Alexander Pope, another philosopher before the French Revolution. The French Revolution was considered a time of positive change, and Voltaire’s philosophical works affected the beginning of the time period by urging the acceptance of new theories.
... disclose any wrongs so that it can be lifted. "The key targets of Voltaire's satire are totalizing perceptions of the world, whether extreme optimism or extreme pessimism, both of which offer excuses for indifference to human suffering" (Stanley 76). Voltaire aims to add the different perspectives of how people view the world and conclude that whether one believes in optimism or pessimism, their outcomes lead to human suffering. In the story, Voltaire uses the main character's travels and experiences to support the theory of human suffering. However, the reader will not be able to understand the character fully without seeing how the other characters influence him, contradicting Rousseau's philosophy of individuality. Using all of the characters' experiences, Voltaire removes the optimistic and pessimistic views and replaces it with a vision of an uncertain future.
Overall Voltaire is successful in promoting his ideas and beliefs. It is clear he wants to see a drastic change in religion, politics and morals in the pre-modern period. Throughout his novel Candide he is able to criticise society with a light hearted mockery but also with a seriousness using extreme examples to address his points and concerns. It is arguable that his ambitions were far too high at a time of hope and debate in the 18th century.
In Candide, Voltaire sought to point out the fallacy of Gottfried Leibniz's theory of optimism and the hardships brought on by the resulting inaction toward the evils of the world. Voltaire's use of satire, and its techniques of exaggeration and contrast highlight the evil and brutality of war and the world in general when men are meekly accepting of their fate.
Jonathan Swift and Voltaire come from diverse geographical locations and have a thirty year span between the publications of their works; to be concise, it can be said that there is a noticeable difference between A Modest Proposal and Candide. Additionally, the factors of their daily lives and their countries’ politics will exhibit a difference in the context of these two pieces. While Swift’s essay addresses his country’s famine and financial turmoil, Voltaire addresses a vast number of issues in his novella, including the Leibniz theory and the hypocrisy of the Church. Despite these differences, the similarities persist in the methods used to educate and inform the public of these social, political, economical, and philosophical concerns.
The book Candide by Voltaire is a humorous satire constructed of many themes. Through his book, Voltaire expresses his views on life by criticizing many aspects of humanity at that time. He focused in war, religion, and love, but the main target of Voltaire's satire was a certain philosophy. All of the previous topics unite to ridicule the philosophy that, as the character Pangloss said, "things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end" (1).
Mad Magazine, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live. In our society, satire is among the most prevalent of comedic forms. This was not always true, for before the 18th century, satire was not a fully developed form. Satire, however, rose out of necessity; writers and artists needed a way to ambiguously criticize their governments, their churches, and their aristocrats. By the 18th century, satire was hugely popular. Satire as an art form has its roots in the classics, especially in the Roman Horace's Satires. Satire as it was originally proposed was a form of literature using sarcasm, irony, and wit, to bring about a change in society, but in the eighteenth century Voltaire, Jonathan Swift and William Hogarth expanded satire to include politics, as well as art. The political climate of the time was one of tension. Any criticism of government would bring harsh punishments, sometimes exile or death. In order to voice opinions without fear of punishment, malcontented writers turned to Satire. Voltaire's Candide and Swift's Modest Proposal are two examples of this new genre. By creating a fictional world modeled after the world he hated, Voltaire was able to attack scientists, and theologians with impunity. Jonathan Swift created many fictional worlds in his great work, Gulliver's Travels, where he constantly drew parallels to the English government.
Famous politician and activist, Eleanor Roosevelt, once said, “All wars eventually act as boomerangs and the victor suffers as much as the vanquished”. This criticism can easily align with Voltaire’s own anti-war sentiment as illustrated in his famous novel, Candide. Voltaire took advantage of his literary capabilities in order to present to the world a novel that attempts to not only dismantle social norms, but also subvert humanity’s common - and corrupt - way of thinking about war. More specifically, being personally influenced by the 18th century Seven Year’s War, Voltaire turned away from any positive opinions on war and instead, developed intense opposition toward the armed conflict so prevalent within our society. With this anti-war