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Writing at Western |
Happiness in Voltaire’s Eyes
By Kataizyna Bogdan
Happiness is an internal desire of almost every healthy human being. It has been often associated with innocence, the lack of awareness of the world around. One who does not know the reality around her or him is almost always happy. For the thinkers of the Enlightenment, such as Francois Marie Arouet de Voltaire (1694-1778), however, knowledge and reason are the highest goals. The ability to think independently is what makes a human being a full and mature individual. If one wants to become enlightened, however, one has to sacrifice innocence. Does it mean that there is no place for happiness in the enlightened world?
To begin a dispute over happiness, one has to consider the definition of a word “happy” itself. The American Heritage Dictionary has a number of explanations of that word. Happiness is equal with good luck; it indicates someone who is fortunate, enjoying, satisfied and joyful, and eventually, happiness is being “enthusiastic about or involved with”. Voltaire, in his writings tried to present his perception of happiness, which seems to be the closest to the last of the dictionary’s description. His idea of happiness was far from the innocent ‘good luck’. Candide, one of Voltaire’s most famous works, is a perfect example of the journey from innocence, through many trials and tribulations, to the state of the enlightened, mature and satisfied individual. The world of Candide’s childhood is like an Eden. His tutor, Doctor Pangloss, a strong follower of Leibnizian Optimism, has successfully convinced him that “everything is for the best” (“Candide and other Stories” 4), including the place they live in, which is the most perfect of all the spots in the entire world. Unfortunately (?) Candide’s ‘happiness’ does not last long. After the young boy kisses his beloved Cunegunde, he is expelled from the ‘Land of Bounty’. This is where his odyssey towards enlightenment begins. Candide has a long way to go, as his mind is indoctrinated, shadowed by his peer’s philosophical system, proclaiming that whatever happens is the best of all possible situations. The Pangloss’s system, in this case performs a role of a Kantian’s ‘guardian’, which deprives the innocent individual of his ability to reason. It closes his mind to self-experience. His eyes are opened, but he does not see.
Candide, however, is not going to stay in this blissful mood for long. The time comes to face the brutal reality, which will eventually awaken him to imposing his own judgment on the world around him. He appears to be a little bit helpless, more like a leaf in the autumn wind. He does not have much influence on the course of his life. He is drifting from place to place, and accepts everything that is brought to him by the fates. He is like a Taoist in his attitude towards life. Whatever happens happens for the best, there is no question, no desire in him to change the circumstances, to alter the course of events, as everything is the way it should be. He places no value on personal experience and reason, as he his mind is ‘stuck’ in ‘the perfect philosophy’. Throughout the story he is working hard on maintaining his beliefs, and wastes energy by clinging to the instructions he was equipped with. The efforts he puts into holding on to his education are unbelievable, yet so familiar in our world. Hopelessness seems to be the greatest evil of today’s societies, and an easy way of escaping reality.
Pangloss’s philosophy is not the only one to which Candide is exposed. Martin, a man Candide meets on his way, is an excellent example of another system, the state of hopelessness mentioned above. Martin is just the opposite of Pangloss; his world is miserable and unhappy wherever he is. His suffering has made his heart callous and indifferent. His attitude represents another system that stops one from becoming enlightened. Fortunately, Candide is not caught up in his philosophy. One could quarrel here that Pangloss’s teachings help him to survive. This would go to prove that sometimes a certain system can help one to go on, by holding on to hope and faith in a better tomorrow.
One of the places that Candide happens to visit during his travels is ‘a happy land of Eldorado’. It is another Eden, the utopian land, where everything is bountiful. People living there have the access to all the goods and riches. However, this innocent land has its forbidden fruit. One cannot leave the borders of the country, as there is no coming back. Leaving Eldorado would mean gaining knowledge about life, and the knowledge kills innocence. Candide cannot stay in Eldorado, as he has already tasted the outside world, and most of all, he is on his quest towards enlightenment. Voltaire knows that a man is not a full human being without knowledge. As he states in a Story of a Good Brahman ”I have told myself a hundred times that I would be happy if I was as stupid as my neighbor, and yet I would want no part of such happiness” (“Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories” 241). Ignorance is bliss; one does not suffer because of something one is not aware of. People satisfied with their present situation tend not to question, there is no need to do so. Knowledge is a poison that opens one’s mind to the new meaning of life. It is a seed that grows into a huge and majestic tree of awareness. Candide’s mind has that seed already. He knows that there is more to learn, more to experience. Although he may not be aware of that, he has to proceed in the search of happiness. He needs to be initiated, yet he still does not know what it truly means to reason for himself. This time he mistakes happiness for wealth, and again, by being exposed to the world of humans, he becomes disillusioned.
Candide is traveling and gaining experience, but it is rather an unconscious process. His education is not the only factor that contributes to his state. In addition to that, he lives in a dream that he has created for himself. Since the day he was reunited for a while with his sweetheart, he decides to find her, and believes that only then he will attain happiness. He does not live in the present moment, his love blinds him. It is his ultimate goal. He assumes that the woman can rescue him from the misery of life. It is so much easier to live in an innocent dream. It is a perfect way of getting rid of one’s responsibility, and waiting for ‘the golden fish’ that will fulfill one’s expectations. It is not to say that dreams are of no value; sometimes they help one to survive just as they probably many a time helped Candide. However, at last when he meets his Cunegunde, he realizes that she is no longer the same person. She is ugly and ‘impossible to live with”. He is disillusioned again.
Voltaire sends Candide on a journey that opens up his mind. He allows him to taste all there is to taste in the human world. At last Candide refuses to believe in Pangloss’s philosophy, when asked by Martin about what Optimism is, he says that it “…is a mania for insisting that all is well when things are going badly” (“Candide and other Stories” 54). It is a sign that his mind is becoming liberated from what he had held as the highest truth. Voltaire understands that getting rid of all philosophies liberates one’s mind, opens it to the real meaning of life. He encourages people to make the best use of what is available right now. His famous words “Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats” (Bottiglia, 82) perfectly illustrate his attitude to life. No matter how little one has, one should be grateful, and use it wisely. The philosopher states that people should not give away their power, as it is the only thing they possess. It is not the external events that bring one happiness, but the attitude towards them. One’s mind has to be free from all the systems, all the ideas and beliefs which were planted by his teachers, society, religion or parents. All of them have to be uprooted. Only then, one is able to look at and see, reason for oneself, without prejudice.
The Turk, who appears in the closing chapters of Candide, says: “Work keeps us from three great evils: boredom, vice and need” (“Candide and other Stories” 98). Occupied people do not have any time or desire to perform vicious acts, they are too involved in their own projects, and they are fulfilling their desires. It does not seem to matter to Voltaire how humble the work is. Cunegunde, for example, becomes an excellent pastry cook. As long as the work satisfies one’s soul, as long as one is fully dedicated to it, one will find happiness. Work offers freedom and growth. As W. B. Yeats said “Happiness is neither virtue nor pleasure, nor this nor that, but simply growth” (from “Happiness is…”). One is no longer dependent on the external events, by becoming the ‘driver’, by discovering a unique gift, and working on improving it. Nobody can tell the other person how to live, as each and every individual has the knowledge of what works the best for him or her. It is everyone’s responsibility to find his or her own way of achieving bliss. One has a greater influence on the course of one’s life simply by working, and thus creating one’s own destiny. By doing one’s job, a person is not contributing to the evil of the world. As long as an individual lives in the world of dreams and ideas, he will never be able to create what is essential.
Candide finds his happiness in simplicity; he becomes an asset to his people by simply being content with his work. If the world is supposed to be a better place, everyone has to take charge of his or her own life; each individual has to contribute something. After Candide journeys the world, after he experiences the great evils of the world, and travels the ‘rough roads’, he is ready to ‘retire’ to his own world, he is ready to create his own fate. He realizes that the world is not an appalling place any more. People, their desires, acts and motifs are the same in every corner of the globe. Candide does not need to be in a crowd watching ‘auto-da-fe’ any more. He can make a choice now. He decides to create his days, and all his friends find their place in this world. By the joined commitment of labor they are able to create a good place to live. The philosopher concludes Candide with the words “we must cultivate our garden” (“Candide and other Stories” 100).
Work, however, does not equal eternal happiness, as this is an impossible goal to achieve. If one’s mind is open, the challenge will continue, but one will be able to ‘work with the evil’. Not always can the external events be altered, but one’s awareness of them is a big step. As long as one is alive, one is never free from the misery of the world.
It is unquestionable that enlightenment strips individual of innocence, but it does not necessarily mean that happiness is not achievable. Voltaire does not give a recipe for happiness, but he offers his readers good advice. Be skeptical about everything you have been taught, take charge of your life and work hard toward your goals. There you will find your happiness. And last of all, do not be deceived by thinking that your happiness will last forever, because it certainly will not. Accept that the only constant thing in this world is change.
WORKS CITED
Bottiglia, W.F. Voltaire: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice
Hall, 1968. 15 Mar. 2004 <http://
www.pinkmonkey.com/booknotes/barrons/candide5.asp>.
“Happy”. American Heritage Dictionary of the English language, 4th ed. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2000.
Voltaire. Candide and other stories. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
---. Candide, Zadig and Selected Stories. Trans. Daniel M. Frame. Signet
Publisher, 2001