CKQ+Michael


 * As a nod to some work you have done in history . . . What is revolution and who has the responsibility to change the world? This question is not just about random need for change and pessimism. What places of needed stability do you see? As you post your responses to the key question also mention 'stability' and 'rays of hope' that you see in the novel.**

A revolution can be defined as on overthrow of a government or social order that is usually forceful in order to apply a new system in the society. Many people would contemplate an event to be a revolution when it brings up radical change, like French Revolution. Then this could bring up a question; if series of events that had an ultimate goal of bringing drastic change fails, then is it suitable to be called a revolution? In many cases in history, many revolutions did not turn out to be the best solution, or its outcome was bad, or the revolution itself had failed. Certainly, not all revolutions were good, nor they will be good. Having a logical thinking and objective manner towards the pre-existing system and trying to bring change would be good enough to be titled as a revolution.

Many people in the world, including ourselves, would probably think that only certain people can bring change to the world and they are the only ones who are responsible for it. It is true that most of the power is within the government and normal people do not have the power or the support to make a substantial change. But it is still possible to make small changes bit by bit. I learned that change happens like ripples. As we throw in more pebbles, the ripple gets bigger. Change would be the same. Even though individual changes might be small, they could add up and bring a big change in the world; thus everyone is responsible for changing the world.

This distinct theme of revolution stays through out the book. For example, in chapter 15, Cunégonde’s brother tells Candide “So you would have the effrontery to marry my sister, who has seventy-two quartering’s on her coat of arms! I consider it highly presumptuous of you to dare to speak to me of so rash an intention!” (p.38) The social discrimination that Cunégonde’s brother shows to Candide shows that Cunégonde’s brother is very religious and tells us that the clergies are corrupt. And insulting the clergies at this time could be considered as a revolution, even though it is small.

In chapter 16, Cacambo tells us that men are born naturally evil with the statement “natural law teaches us to kill our neighbor, which is how men behave the world over.” (p. 41) This statement contradicts the statement of the God, which is “men are born naturally kind”. By contradicting a religious belief, this can be viewed as a revolution too.

In chapter 18, the King of El Dorado says “we have so far been protected against the rapacity of the European states, with their irrational lust for the pebbles and mud of our land, for whose sake they would kill every last one of us” (p. 46) This shows how Voltaire considered the human greed. In El Dorado, all the gems or crystals that we consider to be precious, it nothing but a pebble, and it worth nothing. In a time when gold could become the major currency, parodying the human greed about gems is quite revolutionary. 