The touching, perspective shaking story of “The Afghan Girl: A Life revealed” and the satirical wit found in Candide appear to harshly juxtapose each other in every way, but when looking beyond their differences it is clear they both center around the same universal question of how the human spirit can survive, and preserve the will to go on even when faced with insurmountable tribulations. They both arrive at the same conclusion: faith and philosophy is the driving power through impossible obstacles , but due to the drastically varying approaches and tones of the authors the ending message they convey of whether this is valid reason, and sustainable motivation through life are foils to each other. Incorporated from the beginning of Candide
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It can be traced back to psychological needs on Maslow’s Hierarchy-- security and belonging originating from fear. Both Pangloss’ philosophy and the majority of religions are built around the general idea that everything happens for a reason and everyone is part of a greater plan. The reason people put so much value and emphasis on these concepts is the fear that without a clear path or purpose, life would be utterly devoid of meaning resulting in pure chaos. Beliefs also serve as a much needed sanctuary for the human soul, it lets people form a close knit community with a common bond and way of interpreting life. It gives a sense of belonging and being needed among others fulfilling another psychological need of love and respect. This is shown by almost all characters present in Candide, for example whenever Candide feels overwhelmed and alone he thinks back to Pangloss and tries to think through his philosophy as a sort of coping mechanism, Pangloss is always asserting his beliefs because it not only comforts him in the face of fear, it gives him purpose and makes him feel special and intelligents as he preaches to others, the Inquisitor found respect as the head of religious group and because he feared losing respect he would constantly make demonstrations of his
It can be traced back to psychological needs on Maslow’s Hierarchy-- security and belonging originating from fear. Both Pangloss’ philosophy and the majority of religions are built around the general idea that everything happens for a reason and everyone is part of a greater plan. The reason people put so much value and emphasis on these concepts is the fear that without a clear path or purpose, life would be utterly devoid of meaning resulting in pure chaos. Beliefs also serve as a much needed sanctuary for the human soul, it lets people form a close knit community with a common bond and way of interpreting life. It gives a sense of belonging and being needed among others fulfilling another psychological need of love and respect. This is shown by almost all characters present in Candide, for example whenever Candide feels overwhelmed and alone he thinks back to Pangloss and tries to think through his philosophy as a sort of coping mechanism, Pangloss is always asserting his beliefs because it not only comforts him in the face of fear, it gives him purpose and makes him feel special and intelligents as he preaches to others, the Inquisitor found respect as the head of religious group and because he feared losing respect he would constantly make demonstrations of his