Every human is born with an innate sense of morality, but ultimately it is the social and political situations we are in that shape our primary beliefs. We have our own views on war, love and sex, and even our own personal philosophies; however, we tend to alter these views when they are put under scrutiny and our values questioned. In Voltaire’s Candide and Orwell’s 1984, the subjects of love, sex, war, politics, and philosophy are all put under intense scrutiny. The main characters in each book, Winston and Candide, when compared, are in very parallel situations and can be connected to each other through their experiences and personal beliefs. They both exist in very cautious and constrained social settings which are heavily influenced by …show more content…
Both stories shine a harsh light on the concept of love, using it as a means for the main characters’ central conflicts, and the authoritative powers in both stories look at sex as an act of rebellion, something that could disrupt the people’s social layout and the power of those in charge. Candide’s love of Cunegonde and the resulting outcome of said love (the meeting behind the door) is the reason he is banished from his comfortable life in the house. The sexual experience he and Cunegonde shared was frowned upon and he was thrown out. Throughout the rest of the book Candide is bent on getting back to Cunegonde despite all the hardships they both have endured because he holds on to the feelings he had for her when he was younger. In the end they wind up married, but neither of them are happy. The love they once held for each other is twisted and warped, and Candide’s downfall in the end is his naive approach to love. In the same way, Winston’s downfall is his connection to Julia. They begin a flawed sexual relationship with each other as an act of rebellion and defiance. Sex is frowned upon by the party, and coincidentally, they are arrested by the Thought Police while in the midst of being together. They betray each other when they are tortured, further highlighting their naivety. They were blinded by their passion for each other which was brought on by a mutual desire to rebel against the Party, and in the end it backfired and is what caused them to break. At the end of 1984, their meeting isn’t a reconciliation or even a remembrance of their “love” for each other, but rather a foil to their intense and short lived relationship. It shows just how empty they are and how there was once something that is now long gone.This ending is very comparable to Voltaire’s Candide when seeing how Candide are so close to one another yet their
Throughout Candide the author, Voltaire, demonstrates the character’s experiences in a cruel world and his fight to gain happiness. In the beginning Candide expects to achieve happiness without working for his goal and only taking the easy way out of all situations. However, by the end of the book the character
Winston felt like sex was a rebellion. He is drawn to his lover Julia because
Aldous Huxley 's Brave New World, George Orwell 's 1984, and Anthony Burgess ' A Clockwork Orange all present a distinct, multi-faceted dystopia. Elements of the human psyche are exploited in order to preserve each civilization. Any threat of defiance is thoroughly investigated and the three governments engage strategies to handle them. Although the customs and laws are different in the respective societies, each demonstrates the extremes of behavior, the power of conditioning, and the innate need to belong.
According to Rene Pomeau, "Voltaire-Candide...have made him [Candide] acquainted with the bad and the good side of human existence. The moral of Candide is born out of its style; it is the art of extracting happiness from the desolate hopping-about of the human insect" (Adams; Pomeau p.137). Pomeau explains that Candide shows both sides of humanity; how both great and terrible events are standard in a human life. Also according to Pomeau, the whole point of the story is to debate between good and bad; for example, as Candide becomes more independent, he starts to doubt that only good comes out of life.
Candide is written to show human vices but also show Voltaire’s counter ideas to Leibniz’s optimism. Each one of the characters that Candide interacts with has their own specific folly that proves the world maybe isn’t all for the best. Pangloss is so optimistic that he is naive and conceded, the abbe in France is extremely greedy when she steals gems from Candide, and the Dervish who doesn’t question things is so passive that he isn’t very likeable. The ending of the novel concludes when Candide finds peace in the garden where he is working to escape the three evils in the world according to the Old Turk. Candide’s finding of peace can correlate with Voltaire being okay with life and the earth even though he sees suffering happen. Though the novel bashes on optimism, Voltaire’s acceptance life and of the world is a good example for anyone.
Love is an emotion affecting people's everyday lives. In the book “1984,”, George Orwell introduces his readers to this idea, with a compelling portrayal of this important feeling. In Orwell’s totalitarian society of Oceania, the ruling party attempts to demolish all love for anyone except Big Brother who controls them. The affection that normally exists between individuals, in Oceania, warps to exist between individuals tortured and those torturing them. This is demonstrated by familial bonds and affection between siblings, wives, mothers, fathers and children, changing and creating an opportunity for the government to monitor its citizens. In contrast the interactions between the main character, Winston and his oppressor, O'Brien exhibit true love. Real connections between regular human beings in Oceania are virtually non existent due to actions taken by the government to destroy these bonds.
George Orwell creates a dark, depressing and pessimistic world where the government has full control over the masses in the novel 1984. The protagonist, Winston, is low-level Party member who has grown to resent the society that he lives in. Orwell portrays him as a individual that begins to lose his sanity due to the constrictions of society. There are only two possible outcomes, either he becomes more effectively assimilated or he brings about the change he desires. Winston starts a journey towards his own self-destruction. His first defiant act is the diary where he writes “DOWN WITH BIG BROTHER.” But he goes further by having an affair with Julia, another party member, renting a room over Mr. Carrington’s antique shop where Winston conducts this affair with Julia, and by following O’Brien who claims to have connections with the Brotherhood, the anti-Party movement led my Emmanuel Goldstein. Winston and Julia are both eventually arrested by the Thought Police when Mr. Carrington turns out to be a undercover officer. They both eventually betray each other when O’Brien conducts torture upon them at the Ministry of Love. Orwell conveys the limitations of the individual when it comes to doing something monumental like overthrowing the established hierarchy which is seen through the futility of Winston Smith’s actions that end with his failure instead of the end of Big Brother. Winston’s goal of liberating himself turns out to be hopeless when the people he trusted end up betraying him and how he was arbitrarily manipulated. It can be perceived that Winston was in fact concerned more about his own sanity and physical well-being because he gives into Big Brother after he is tortured and becomes content to live in the society he hated so much. Winston witnesses the weakness within the prole community because of their inability to understand the Party’s workings but he himself embodies weakness by sabotaging himself by associating with all the wrong people and by simply falling into the arms of Big Brother. Orwell created a world where there is no use but to assimilate from Winston’s perspective making his struggle utterly hopeless.
In 1984, George Orwell presents an overly controlled society that is run by Big Brother. The protagonist, Winston, attempts to “stay human” in the face of a dehumanizing, totalitarian regime. Big Brother possesses so much control over these people that even the most natural thoughts such as love and sex are considered taboo and are punishable. Big Brother has taken this society and turned each individual against one another. Parents distrust their own offspring, husband and wife turn on one another, and some people turn on their own selves entirely. The people of Oceania become brainwashed by Big Brother. Punishment for any uprising rebellions is punishable harshly.
The experiences that we face in life vary from person to person and one of the greatest differences occur between men and women. In Voltaire 's novel Candide a great deal of the experiences that each of the characters face is unique to them, but the experiences of the women differ greatly to those of the men. The way the two sexes handled those experiences also varied and reflected a satirical view of the times in which Voltaire lived. The differences in events between the men and women can be seen in a few key points that are seen throughout the Novel.
In the novel Candide written by Voltaire there are several symbols throughout the story. One of those symbolic figures that seems to stand out in the story is the character Candide, a gullible and innocent boy who experiences many hardships after being vanished from the castle of the baron von Thunder-ten-tronckh. Candide seems to be a representation of people's innocence and how they tend to lose it throughout their lifetime as they witness and experience new things in the world and grow wary of the consequences that every different situation may hold. For example, Voltaire mentions in the beginning of the story that “nature had bestowed upon [Candide] the gentlest of dispositions. His countenance expressed his soul” which shows to the reader that Candide is kind and innocent at the beginning and that he has not the slightest intentions of interfering with another persons life in a negative manner (3). However, later on in the story after Candide has killed Don Issachar and the Grand Inquisitor, Candide justifies his murderous behavior to Cunegonde by saying that “when you are in love, and jealous, and have been flogged by the inquisition, there is no knowing what you may do” which demonstrates that the gentle and kind Candide has turned into a murderer as a result of his previous life experiences which in turn provides an excellent example of how people lose their innocence and turn to violence overtime (22).
Voltaire’s Candide can be understood in several ways by its audience. At a first glance it would appear to be simply a story blessed with outrageous creativity, but if you look deeper in to the novel, a more complicated and meaningful message is buried within. Voltaire uses the adventures of Candide as a representation of what he personally feels is wrong within in society. Written in the 18th century (1759), known commonly as the age of enlightenment, Voltaire forces his audience to consider the shift from tradition to freedom within society. He achieves this by exploring the reality of human suffering due to traditions which he mocks throughout Candide. In particular he focused on exploiting the corruption he felt was strongly and wrongfully present within three main aspects of society these being religion, politics and morals. Each chapter represents different ways in which Voltaire believes corruption exists providing the audience with the reality of society’s problems due to its fixation on tradition. As a philosopher of the Enlightenment, Voltaire advocated for freedom of religion, freedom of expression and the separation between church and state. Voltaire successfully presents these ideas within Candide by highlighting why they are a significant problem in 18th century Europe.
At the end of the novel, Orwell describes Winston as a cured patient who has over come his metal disease. “He had won the victory over himself: he loved Big Brother” (Part 3, Chapter 6). Both Freud and Orwell break down the components of a person’s mind in the same way. Orwell’s character, Winston, depicts the different parts of the human mind so described by Freud. In Orwell’s 1984, he uncovers the same components of a human mind as seen by Freud, the instinctual drive of the id, the perceptions and actions of the ego, and the censorship imposed by the morality of the superego.
It is difficult for them to hope to succeed in an area where so many of them have failed. The constant theme of betrayal in 1984 is being used by George Orwell to show how hopeless Winston’s struggle against the Totalitarian system is, giving the reader an idea of how bad this type of government is. The reader is introduced to this dark time and given hope in the form of the rebellious protagonist, Winston. However, the reader soon realises how hopelessly alone Winston is in his silent battle when they see that the government is against him, he has no support or allies, and that even his own mind can be turned against him. The message is clear and makes readers who live in a democracy happier with what they have.
One of the main female characters of this story is Cunégonde, the love interest of Candide, whose life did a complete 180 turn around. When we first find Cunégonde we see that she lives a lavish life with her family. We see her life turn around when her house is burned down, and her family murdered. Cunégonde herself is raped and sold to a man known as Don Issachar. She is then forced to be shared with another man known as The Grand Inquisitor. Although Cunégonde is a victim in the beginning, she retains her strong character, and after Candide slays the two men, she quickly seizes the opportunity to leaves with Candide and the old woman. If she were a victim,she would quickly falter, unsure of how to act or move because of
...ir first encounter and believes that she had no choice but to accept the governor’s offer. She states, “An honorable woman may be raped once, but it only makes her virtue stronger.” (24) For her part she does love Candide but it is a shallow love, more akin to lust. She wants to be faithful to Candide, but only if it will support the lifestyle that she is accustomed to.