There is no good without evil. The book leaves us with the death of Jacques, who vanishes from this world trying to save the sailor. These two are completely different: the sailor being a completely egotistical and malevolent person, while Jacques is altruistic and benevolent. There has to be enough evil in order to balance out the good. But when these two variables balance out, which wins? The evil. In this case, the result is not balanced, but instead the survival of the evil in behalf of the good’s grace. Even though he is completely altruist, Jacques is victim of his own altruism. Being constantly referred as the “Anabaptist”, he is used as a target from Voltaire in order to criticize the uselessness of being a good person in a world full of evil. Then, is this really the best of all possible worlds?
They often say that the good die young. Paying dividends of a world created by a perfect being. Still, they look at it with optimism. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity while an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Candide becomes a target of his own optimism, and yet remains optimistic, barely: “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what can the rest be like” (37)? He suffers the deaths of Jacques, the Anabaptist, Pangloss, and Lady Cunegonde, and yet remains optimistic. Remaining optimistic is quite crucial in life. We constantly ask ourselves: “Why me?” But we should better say: “Why anybody?” Surviving in this world depends on how you look at it. We all live the same course of events. We all endure. Imagine you see a donut. Optimists look at the donut. Pessimists look at the hole.
As I write this blog I am looking at the hole, quite honestly. We die by making good in a world of evil. Maybe death waits when I finish this blog, but as I write this woman is telling me: “Pull yourself together, young man, and follow me” (37). We look for a good that we don’t believe it exists. With misery surrounding us, I can’t imagine a God that lets this things happen. While I write this blog, people are dying hanged, drowned, killed. But at the same time I remember of one man who questioned God’s existence:
A man went to the barber’s shop for a haircut, and established a conversation with the person who attended him. Suddenly, they started talking about God:
The barber said: “I don’t think that God exists, as you say.”
“Why do you say that?” asked the client.
“Well, it’s very easy; every day in the streets you notice that God doesn’t exist. Tell me then, if God existed, would there be all those sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there wouldn’t be all that suffering, nor all that pain in humanity. I cannot believe there is a God that lets all these things happen”
When he heard that response, the client stood in silence, and decided not to respond, only to avoid a serious discussion. When his haircut was finished, he exited the barber’s shop and outside saw a man with a long beard, and bushy hair. When seeing this, he entered back to the barber’s shop and said to the barber: “You know what? Barbers don’t exist”.
“What? But look, here I am”, responded the barber.
“No!” said the client, “If they existed, there wouldn’t be people with such long beards and bushy hair as that of the man over there.”
“Barbers do exist”, responded the barber, “what happens is that those people don’t come to me”
“Exactly!” said the client, “That’s the point. God as well exists, but what happens is that people in the world don’t go towards him, and don’t look for him. That’s why there is all that misery and woe”.
The existence of God remains ambiguous. Whose fault is it then? Do we have to stop blaming God and blame ourselves? Then we have to stop it both ways. Stop blaming God, but as well stop preaching. But for Voltaire, religion is hypocrisy. We ask God for miracles. But at the same time we blame him for our miseries. Therefore we shall remain optimistic, to depend on ourselves and not on Him who created this perfect world. Yes it’s perfect, let’s take it for granted. Let’s look at the donut and not the hole.
They often say that the good die young. Paying dividends of a world created by a perfect being. Still, they look at it with optimism. A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity while an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. Candide becomes a target of his own optimism, and yet remains optimistic, barely: “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what can the rest be like” (37)? He suffers the deaths of Jacques, the Anabaptist, Pangloss, and Lady Cunegonde, and yet remains optimistic. Remaining optimistic is quite crucial in life. We constantly ask ourselves: “Why me?” But we should better say: “Why anybody?” Surviving in this world depends on how you look at it. We all live the same course of events. We all endure. Imagine you see a donut. Optimists look at the donut. Pessimists look at the hole.
As I write this blog I am looking at the hole, quite honestly. We die by making good in a world of evil. Maybe death waits when I finish this blog, but as I write this woman is telling me: “Pull yourself together, young man, and follow me” (37). We look for a good that we don’t believe it exists. With misery surrounding us, I can’t imagine a God that lets this things happen. While I write this blog, people are dying hanged, drowned, killed. But at the same time I remember of one man who questioned God’s existence:
A man went to the barber’s shop for a haircut, and established a conversation with the person who attended him. Suddenly, they started talking about God:
The barber said: “I don’t think that God exists, as you say.”
“Why do you say that?” asked the client.
“Well, it’s very easy; every day in the streets you notice that God doesn’t exist. Tell me then, if God existed, would there be all those sick people? Would there be abandoned children? If God existed, there wouldn’t be all that suffering, nor all that pain in humanity. I cannot believe there is a God that lets all these things happen”
When he heard that response, the client stood in silence, and decided not to respond, only to avoid a serious discussion. When his haircut was finished, he exited the barber’s shop and outside saw a man with a long beard, and bushy hair. When seeing this, he entered back to the barber’s shop and said to the barber: “You know what? Barbers don’t exist”.
“What? But look, here I am”, responded the barber.
“No!” said the client, “If they existed, there wouldn’t be people with such long beards and bushy hair as that of the man over there.”
“Barbers do exist”, responded the barber, “what happens is that those people don’t come to me”
“Exactly!” said the client, “That’s the point. God as well exists, but what happens is that people in the world don’t go towards him, and don’t look for him. That’s why there is all that misery and woe”.
The existence of God remains ambiguous. Whose fault is it then? Do we have to stop blaming God and blame ourselves? Then we have to stop it both ways. Stop blaming God, but as well stop preaching. But for Voltaire, religion is hypocrisy. We ask God for miracles. But at the same time we blame him for our miseries. Therefore we shall remain optimistic, to depend on ourselves and not on Him who created this perfect world. Yes it’s perfect, let’s take it for granted. Let’s look at the donut and not the hole.
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