Candide

As I sat down to read Candide, I knew nothing about the novel. All I knew was that I liked the length (75 pages is my kind of book) and I liked the format (short chapters, giving me frequent stopping points to take breaks and get distracted, like I always do). Once I began reading the novel, however, I just became confused. What is the point of the story? Why is Candide so naïve? And when is just going to give it up!?

It wasn’t until I took a long break in my reading that I made two interesting realizations, or at least I thought they were interesting. The first was that the short, choppy chapters reflected the short, choppy nature of Candide and his adventures. I’m not really one to observe such relationships so I was pretty proud when I made this discovery. The second was that, throughout the whole story (thus far), Candide had gone through all of these hardships and adventures just to reunite Cunegonde, a woman who he ”loved” so much. As I thought about this, I realized that there is no way that Candide could really know if he loved Cunegonde. He loved her appearance, he loved the way she kissed, he loved her status, but all of those things were perishable. I think that, like almost everyone does, Candide built up Cunegonde in his mind after they were separated to be this amazing woman who he loved so much while, in reality, he had no idea if he truly loved her.

At the time, this discovery kind of annoyed me. I was reading an entire book that was based on false love and Candide was doing so much just to be reunited with this woman that he thought he loved. I knew, however, that with such a negative attitude, the remaining 30 pages would seem like a lifetime, so I had to not Candide’s naivety annoy me. A banana and a Diet Coke later, I picked up the book with a rejuvenated attitude that I was going to read it and like it (it’s amazing what a little snack can do for you).

This time around, however, I began to like Candide more and more. I acknowledged the humor and satire, I light heartedly laughed at the ridiculous plot and at almost everything that Pangloss said, and I even began to accept Candide’s adventure as more of a call to duty and less of an ignorant attempt to find love. All young people are just looking for a calling, a place to be needed, and Candide thought that he found his. Candied exhibited heroic qualities such as hope, perseverance, and faith. Once I let go of the fact that Candide was chasing after a woman who he had no idea if he truly loved, the book wasn’t so bad after all.

The end of the novel is really what made me the happiest. ‘Happy?’ one may think. ‘How does Candide recieving an old, raped, unattractive woman for his wife make you happy?’ I don’t want anyone to think that I’m a negative or hateful person by nature, because I’m actually quite opposite-I just like it when someone who makes a mistake (at least in a book) gets what’s coming for them. Candide thought that he “loved” Cunegonde, but it was all based on external things and, for that reason, when she came to him old and ugly he was disappointed. I am truly a sucker for the moral of stories and I think, along with its many other lessons, one very crucial one is that love is about more than just looks and worldly things. Those can all go away in a heartbeat-you know you’re in love when you are handed over an old ugly woman that you once loved and you love her just the same (if not more).

Although the start of my journey reading Candide was a little bit rocky, I truly enjoyed the novel after reflecting on it and taking it for what it is-a funny, light hearted, novel that, in its own strange way, teaches many lessons to its readers.