Reading Reflection: Candide 1/31

When reflecting on the last chapters of Voltaire’s Candide, it is obviously apparent that the last few chapters of the novel reflect, in parallel, upon the first chapter in the novel. The many parallels between the first and last chapters of the novel seem to reflect the concept of binary opposition as well.

At the outset of the novel all of the characters residing in Thunder-ten-tronckh seem to buy into Pangloss’ optimistic outlook on nature. They lived in the “best of all possible worlds” in the “most beautiful of all castles”. However by the end of the novel, the characters of the story are all miserable, even though they had found peace on their little farm. “Nothing was left but his little farm; his wife, growing uglier every day…” In this passage on pg. 72 Voltaire recites the struggles and misery of all the members of Candide’s group despite their new found peace. The binary opposition between happiness and optimism at the outset of the novel and misery and pessimism at the conclusion is only one example of the parallelism between the first and last chapters.

In both the first and final chapter, Voltaire lists the central characters names and descriptions, highlighting the change their travels have wrought upon them. Cunegonde is described as “fresh, plump, and desirable” in the first chapter but, in the final chapter she is depicted as “eyes blood shot, her breasts fallen, her cheeks seamed, and her arms scaly and red.” Similarly Pangloss goes from being “the greatest philosopher in the province and consequently the entire world” to “being in despair at being unable to shine in a university.” The characters of Paquette and Candide are also described as having fallen from their former glory at the conclusion of the novel.

Apart from these two major indications of a parallelism between the beginning and ending of the novel, Voltaire also inserted multiple smaller points of ironic parallel between the beginning and end of the novel. At the outset, Paquette is shown enjoying a “lesson” with Dr. Pangloss. However by the end, Paquette had “plied her trade everywhere but made no money.” Clearly while sex had once been enjoyable to Paquette, she now detests it because it brings her no joy or money. Another smaller parallel is that of marriage. In the first chapter, Candide’s mother refused to marry his father because of a lack of nobility. In contradiction, Candide marries Cunegonde at the end even though her brother forbids it and he “had no real wish to marry her.” 

Voltaire uses these binary oppositions and parallels in Candide to enforce the a presence of Irony in the novel. This sense of irony, in turn, helps him solidify the novel Candide as primarily a work of satire meant to commentate on the world around him.