The Message behind Candide In the story Candide, written by Voltaire, there are several lessons that are meant to be learned. Voltaire’s satirical approach entices the reader to want to continue reading the story, find out what happens next, and really try to read between the lines for the deeper meaning. He makes a major point with his statement, “Cultivate your garden.” Those three powerful words combine together in response to the apathy or lack of concern created by philosophical optimism and the destruction of humanity built by organized religion. When one hears the three words, cultivate your garden, several things come to mind. It makes the reader ponder the phrase and wonder what Voltaire’s purpose for using them is. The fact of
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As people, we all have responsibilities that need taking care of. People have to get jobs to have some sort of income to support their wellbeing. Voltaire is really big about doing things for oneself. He feels that depending on others is a burden. He shows this concept all throughout his story with his character Candide. It did not matter what Candide was faced with because he always finds a way to survive. Not only did he find a way to survive, he accepted everything that happened to him. Secondly, the reader could look at what Voltaire did not say. Why did he not say build your city or fix your town? The use of the phrase cultivate your garden is strategic. Voltaire writes in the story, “for when man was put into the Garden of Eden, he was put there ut operaretur eum, so that he should work it; this proves that man was not born to take his ease” (Voltaire, 580). Those sentences bring emphasis on the fact that a garden is natural and could be symbolism for a person’s life and that he or she must work to survive. We all start a garden when we are born and we have the ability to nurture and work it to become as fruitful and prosperous as needed to live. Different troubles, such as problems in life and tough situations, can be looked at as droughts and
As people, we all have responsibilities that need taking care of. People have to get jobs to have some sort of income to support their wellbeing. Voltaire is really big about doing things for oneself. He feels that depending on others is a burden. He shows this concept all throughout his story with his character Candide. It did not matter what Candide was faced with because he always finds a way to survive. Not only did he find a way to survive, he accepted everything that happened to him. Secondly, the reader could look at what Voltaire did not say. Why did he not say build your city or fix your town? The use of the phrase cultivate your garden is strategic. Voltaire writes in the story, “for when man was put into the Garden of Eden, he was put there ut operaretur eum, so that he should work it; this proves that man was not born to take his ease” (Voltaire, 580). Those sentences bring emphasis on the fact that a garden is natural and could be symbolism for a person’s life and that he or she must work to survive. We all start a garden when we are born and we have the ability to nurture and work it to become as fruitful and prosperous as needed to live. Different troubles, such as problems in life and tough situations, can be looked at as droughts and