Talk:Candide

Template:Novelinfoboxneeded Candide's Last Words

I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and we couldn't agree as to the meaning of Candide's last words: "That's all very well, but let us cultivate our garden." I argued that Voltaire meant it metaphorically (as in "interior cultivation"; personal growth), while my friend supported that it was meant literally (as in mind your own business). Who is right after all? Or perhaps it was meant as both?

Others would argue that he saw the world as a garden which, since it was all in disarray, needed to be cultivated by the people who lived in it. So he may have meant it literally, but not in the since on minding one's own business, but rather doing good in the world.

Tending one's garden

I think it has more to do with knowing one's limitations and doing one's utmost from within them to keep one's corner of the world green and growing. At the end of the novel Candide has wasted his life pursuing a woman who has become bitter and haggard, a shadow of the girl he has suffered so much for. He does not mind; he tends his garden. By this point Voltaire has all but abandoned idealism, as any scene outside El Dorado can attest. What good in the world we can do, we muddily must, but mind the garden gate.

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SparkNotes.com has its own take on The Garden in their Themes, Motifs, and Symbols section.

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Personally, I was always sort of depressed by the very narrow explanations supplied for that quotation. Perhaps the most important line in the book - it directly contrasts the "new" Candide's philosophy with that of the "old" Candide (and therefore also that of Pangloss). Previously he was given to questioning the sufficient reasons for things; that is, the "why." The problem with this viewpoint is two-fold: (1) it doesn't necessitate action and (2) the actual existence of an answer to the question of "why?" may not even exist (a more comedic instance of this occuring with a child's continuous asking). The last line dealt instead with the necessary condition, which can often be related to the question of "how." This attitude is future-seeking, requiring action as a means. Any explanation which illustrates this contrast should, I feel, be considered valid. Of course, it should only be taken as a necessary condition for an interesting paper; I mention it here mostly because many readers seem to not understand logic when they read Voltaire.

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I believe the last line can be paraphrased thus:

"We've spent this whole book wandering through misery to figure out how to be happy, so let's shut up and get on with it now that we've got it."

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I think you could also view it as Candide's final realization of the imperfection of the world-that it is not the best of all possible worlds,and so must be cultivated. Thus playing off the image of the garden of eden, etc.

Earthquake

Wasn't the novel (slightly) influenced by the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake? There's a mention in that article. --Madchester 22:45, 9 November 2006 (UTC)