What is one to do when faced with two extremes? Does one choose the devil you know or the devil you do not know? Fight or flight? To be or not to be? In Candide, Voltaire pits the eponymous protagonist and his ragtag group of friends and philosophers against the ruthless world; in which, they face trials and tribulations from an earthquake, auto-da-fé, and a mutilated buttocks. At the end of their torment, they are left to ruminate on their journey thus far and, ultimately, disengage from the world to cultivate their small private gardens. But is it better to forsake society and retreat to the confines of your personal bubble than to obstinately engage the world and champion change through involvement and activism?
By no means is this polarizing question new to the human condition. Over 2000 years before Candide, Chinese philosophers struggled with solving Voltaire's conundrum. Confucianism argued for the latter, believing that humans have an obligation to participate in the daily happenings of society for the purpose of creating a better one. Meanwhile, Taoism proposed the opposite, maintaining non-commitment and harmonizing with the Tao, or nature, in lieu …show more content…
Conflict does not exist. In fact, it managed to avoid discovery from the Spaniards and other European countries for hundreds of years. The people of El Dorado established a rule that prohibited inhabitants from leaving the kingdom. It was a self-imposed exile that "preserved [their] innocence and [their] happiness" (Voltaire 40). Moreover, nobody in El Dorado dies because of contending religious ideologies because only one religion rules supreme. El Dorado is the quintessential cultivated garden, but alas, no Cunégonde! Despite Voltaire creating the closest rendition of heaven on earth, where the pebbles and sand are gold and jewels, nobody wants to live in
By no means is this polarizing question new to the human condition. Over 2000 years before Candide, Chinese philosophers struggled with solving Voltaire's conundrum. Confucianism argued for the latter, believing that humans have an obligation to participate in the daily happenings of society for the purpose of creating a better one. Meanwhile, Taoism proposed the opposite, maintaining non-commitment and harmonizing with the Tao, or nature, in lieu …show more content…
Conflict does not exist. In fact, it managed to avoid discovery from the Spaniards and other European countries for hundreds of years. The people of El Dorado established a rule that prohibited inhabitants from leaving the kingdom. It was a self-imposed exile that "preserved [their] innocence and [their] happiness" (Voltaire 40). Moreover, nobody in El Dorado dies because of contending religious ideologies because only one religion rules supreme. El Dorado is the quintessential cultivated garden, but alas, no Cunégonde! Despite Voltaire creating the closest rendition of heaven on earth, where the pebbles and sand are gold and jewels, nobody wants to live in