one great day for a walk

2 Cities #1

Rachel Simmons

12/27/14

A Tale of Two Cities

Chapters 1-5

My Dearest Abigail,

A Tale of Two Cities is a book I have been anxious to read for quite some time. However, now that I have started it, I realise that I do not know much about the language types that Charles Dickens employs. During the first three Chapters I was more confused than I have ever been while reading any book. The author starts the book off very generally. He does not introduce any characters and I did not even know who the main character was until chapter four. That being said, his writing is poetic. The extremely popular first sentence, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times...”,  was beautiful and showed the contrasting mindsets of society at that time period (7).

The man who appears to be the protagonist is Mr. Jarvis Lorry. He was described as having “a healthy colour in his cheeks, and his fave, though lined, bore few traces of anxiety” (21). Despite living an apparently stressful life and working at the bank “digging” people out of financial messes, he has not yet developed many wrinkles or gray hairs (except for his wig). Thus far, through indirect characterization, the mail trip, and his interactions with Miss Manette, we can assume that Mr. Lorry is educated, middle aged, well respected, and high enough in social position to be one of the chosen ones to escort the mail. What is your impression of this business man?

Miss Manette, on the other hand, seems less mysterious. She, being an orphan, is trying to collect any money or property left to her by her deceased mother and father. However, her father is not dead. If this revelation was supposed to be some huge surprise, it did not incur the amount of hype I think it was intended to from Miss Manette, or me. Also, why did this seventeen year old come by herself? She then conveniently is allowed to be with Mr. Lorry as her protector. I did not think her decisions wise. The fact that Lorry is an old friend is very advantageous for our young girl. Would you upon first meeting your banker trust him to watch over you? Times have changed quite a bit.

Another very interesting point that Dickens repeats is the year and the relations one country has with another. The year he repeats is 1775. Dickens mentions the revolution in the new world and how it has made a greater splash in the pool of politics than expected. It sparks disturbances in France as the lower class starts debating following the colonies example. England is in a bit of a frenzy and both sets of nobility has a lot to deal with, but chooses to ignore it. I think that the political going-ons will become a huge factor in the future of this book, especially uprising. Do you think politics will play a large factor in the progress of the story or not? Why?

Good Luck!

CANDIDE 5

Simmons, Rachel; entry #5

Hey-o! Sydney, you queen of the earth.

Your question about why Voltaire has Candide switch from pessimism to optimism was interesting. I see your point in that Voltaire could have been trying to show how neither one is absolute. I agree with you. However, I also see that it could just be showing the simplicity of Candide. He is always fully supporting one or fully supporting the other until something comes up that changes his mind. Candide is not grounded or intelligent enough to support either one or to come up with his own philosophies.

The man who lives in essentially a perfect world proves that perfection does not bring happiness. One can have everything and still not be content. Human nature pushes us to always strive for bigger and better. We are never satisfied with what we do have. If the best of all possible world existed we still would not be content. In El Dorado things that astonished Candide were worthless there because they were abundant. If pure happiness was abundant and sorrow was rare, we would see life and happiness as ordinary rather than a treasured rarity.

Also, I had no idea the significance of the kings. I think it just showed how rich Candide was and how much even royalty suffers. Those with power and wealth know evil as much as the rest of us.

Throughout Candide different characters produce their own ideas about life. “Everyone has a worldview” (props to Mr. Dyck on this one) and in Candide everyone feels like they need to share it. James the anabaptist believed that “men...have corrupted nature...with which to destroy each other” (25), but he still did his best to make it the world better. His willingness to help others leads to his demise. After being flogged, Candide meets someone who is a complete hypocrite, the Grand Inquisitor. He condemns people for ridiculous things that are unholy, but he himself has many mistresses and is very sinful. He lives for himself and preys on the weak. The old woman thinks everyone is terrible and goes along with everything that happens. Martin hates everyone and believes that “the Devil has his hand in everything” (77). I assume that these were popular beliefs of the time. Are there any others you noticed? Which one did you connect with most? Personally, James was my hero even though he only lived for 3 chapters.

Candide!

Simmons, Rachel: Entry #4

Oh my Sydney!

            When it comes to philosophies I think that neither Martin nor Candide have a realistic grasp on life and its meaning. Martin gives far too much credit to the works o evil and the devil, while I think that man is just inherently corrupt. Candide I do not agree with because not everything is for the best and being too optimistic blinds people. The philosophy of optimism leads Candide to be taken advantage of because he cannot see other’s selfishness and greed. So if I must pick one, I will chose Martin for it is better to be doubtful and suspicious of everyone then to be naïve and treated horribly. The happy medium between optimism and pessimism is realism. My idea of realism is seeing what evils people are capable, but not letting that keep you away from society. A realist takes precautions and waits for someone to prove that they are trustworthy. Realism to me is the idea that it’s only true if someone proves it to you. You have the option to prove to me that you are mostly good or bad.

            Finding Cunegonde made me quite happy. The entire time I was waiting for doppy Candide to find his woman. Cunegonde became a servant that washed dishes and had become “horribly ugly” (103). This was the perfect test to see if Candide would stay true to his lady and let love overcome outward appearances. Candide even declared that it is his “duty to love her forever” (103) despite her newfound ugliness. However, upon seeing her, he recoils in disgust. Later, he marries her merely to spite her brother, the Barron, and because she kept pestering him to do so. Do you think he still has love for her or did he just want to complete his lifelong goal? Personally, I think Candide has been shallow from the beginning and was just being a man of his word. However, I am not keen on love and love stories so perhaps I see it all in a negative light because I am biased.

            The ending to Candide was quite convenient. Pangloss and the Barron show up out of nowhere. None of the main characters are actually dead, and they end up going straight back to their old philosophy. It basically undoes all of Candide’s experiences and discredits them. On the final page Pangloss says “all events are interconnected in this best of all possible worlds, for if you hadn’t been driven from a beautiful castle with hard kicks in the behind because of you love for Lady Cunegonde, if you hadn’t wandered over America on foot, if you hadn’t thrust your sword through the baron, and if you hadn’t lost all your sheep form the land of El Dorado, you wouldn’t be here eating candied citrons and pistachio nuts” (113). After all of Voltaire’s work creating horrible situations and disproving the philosophy he has Candide fall right back into it, only with more of a sense of fate. The quote puts so much faith into cause and affect that it feels like one of those Direct TV commercials (“when your cable company keeps you on hold, you get angry; when you get angry, you go blow off steam…you wake up in a roadside ditch”). Candide just accepts that everything happened for the best because the universe or fate wanted them to be together. Were you satisfied with the ending? I thought it was ironic and frustrating, but necessary since Pangloss came back. After all they had been through tending a garden until death seems rather anti-climatic.

Sydney! Candide #3

Sydney, you beautiful, intelligent partner you! How art thou faring?

            Candide and his misfortunes continue to amount as the story continues on. However, by chapter 19 he has “to give up on optimism at last” (69). After journeying to the New World and finding that it was indeed not the best of all possible worlds, losing Cunegonde to yet another man, killing her brother, almost being eaten by Jesuit-haters, getting cheated by greedy people, leaving El Dorado, and meeting the slave that was tortured Candide realizes that his philosophy is unrealistic. One cannot turn a blind eye to the world after seeing such horror. I was surprised that the story of the slave with his “left and right hand missing” (68) was the one that made him change his mind. After all he had been through that was the tipping point to forsake Pangloss’ philosophy. Although he said that he would turn away from the notion of “insisting that everything is all right when everything is going wrong” (69). I thought that the realization that life had actually been going wrong instead of just as it should is proof that his newfound belief will stick. What are your thoughts? Do you think Candide’s revaluation that things do happen that are evil is legitimate or only temporary? Also, why do you think Voltaire chose that moment to have him recant?

            El Dorado clearly was the best of all possible worlds. It has been described a number of different ways in the past by other authors. Voltaire creates a world where gold is called “yellow mud” (65) and the sheep run faster than horses. His version of El Dorado is perfect and unique to other versions. I thought it comical that Candide was still more concerned with the philosophy and reasoning of the people of El Dorado instead of being concerned with the great wealth and customs of an undiscovered civilization. I thought this showed the simplicity of his brain. When Candide asks them about religion and all other government, punishment for wrong and other “civilized” things they reply that they do not exist. All of them are content and in perfect harmony. After all of the terrible things to happen I was very suspicious of the people of El Dorado and presumed that some horrible thing would come from Candide and Cacambo staying there. Where you trusting of those in El Dorado or were you waiting for another huge misfortune?

            The character added in chapter 21, Martin, is the exact opposite of Pangloss. He believes that the world is horrible and the Devil wreaks havoc on everyone. The man is a philosopher and Candide questions if he is “possessed by a devil” (74) to which the man replies that perhaps he is because the devil has his hand in everything. What do you think of this man’s philosophy and will he get along with Candide?

Good Luck!

Sydney, Candide Awaits

To my highly revered conspirator Sydney,

This is quite a lot of events in such few pages. I shall try my best to be thorough, but not boring.

On the subject of James the Anabaptist, I found him to be the most normal and ethical person in the story. He was not Catholic and therefore somewhat of an outsider, but his actions show his dedication to God and other people. I saw him as the only person who was not hypocritical. I think that Voltaire used James to show how even those who help and love everyone still are subject to terrible fates. James died trying to save people while a terrible man. Life is unfair. Because he was such a minor character and died so quickly, I think we do not need to look to far into Voltaire’s reasons for adding him to the story.

Also, it is ironic that Voltaire hates on philosophers so much when he is considered to be a great philosopher himself.

In the more recent portions of the book, the misfortunes of the people in this story, particularly the old woman, I think are extremely exaggerated by Voltaire. He tries to make everyones horrors as worse as possible, but says them so candidly they are hard to believe. I find it very hard to believe that this many misfortunes have happened to this many people, even in the past when life was rougher. It is even more ridiculous that they have somehow managed to survive all of the terrible things they have described to have gone through. Although, since the entire book only serves the purpose to question various philosophies, the exaggerations are appropriate.

Voltaire also throws a lot of satire into the description of Cunegonde’s relations with both the Jew and the Grand Inquisitor. He shows how corrupt and hypocritical everyone is. The account reveals the immense displeasure Voltaire has with the catholic church and basically every religion in the world. For example, later on the old woman comments that in between a war, pillage, and ravaging in Africa “no one missed the five daily prayers prescribed by Mohammed” (41). Voltaire does not take kindly to religious folks. Were you surprised at the return of Cunegonde and her situations?

Once Candide killed for the first time and then killed for the second he seemed to show no remorse. He had been brought up to know murder is wrong and fights about it in his head before coming to the conclusion that to kill the jew and later the grand inquisitor would be the most logical. I thought it funny that immediately after killing the jew he yells out “if Pangloss hadn’t been hanged… he’d give us good advice in this extremity, because he was a great philosopher” (34). Candide is always wishing he had Pangloss with him to explain why everything happens. It portrays Candide as having a weak mind and being reliant on Pangloss and everyone else. Do you think he is unwise or merely wants assurance that he is doing the right thing?

After all of the horrible things the old woman talks about she ends by saying that her biggest flaw was that she still loved life. She says that to love life is “perhaps one of our most pernicious inclinations” (45). Considering all the things she has been through suicide would be fairly heavy on my mind. Why do you think she and all the others have been able to cling to life and hope for better? Do you see this as weakness, hope, or merely the thought never occurred to the others because this is the best of all possible worlds so why should they leave it?

Voltaire has a very disgusting obsession with rape. Literally every single female character mentioned is raped repeatedly. What is his problem?

Candide the Musical

Sydney, I found the musical youtube. It is a comedy and has a lot of inuendoes, but helps get the point across and with pronouncing the names.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FaeYUouI6x4