Candide's Punishments

When reading the book Candide, it is impossible to ignore that the main character, Candide, has to deal with some traumatizing events and intense punishments. He is kicked out of his home, which he considered to be the most beautiful castle in existence, for an innocent kiss with the daughter of the king. He is unknowingly recruited into a savage army and flogged almost to death by other soldiers. His tutor and friend was executed. He was split from his love interest. He experienced hunger, poverty, constant displacement, death and seperation, and general sadness. Was this all necessary?
From a literary standpoint, yes. The point of the book is to challenge the philosophy of Liebniz and his followers that all is for the best. Though what happens to Candide during his adventures is a bit extreme, it is meant to prove the point that there are times when all isn't for the best and all is stressful, but to tell ourselves that it's for the best is an unrealistic and irrational assumption. Some things may be for the worst and we have to face that. To ignore that life is sometimes unpleasant is a bit foolish. Voltaire therefore dramatized Candide's punishments to the extreme. Realistically, Candide didn't deserve what was served to him. All his punishments were much too severe and rash. But without these cruel and unusual punishments, Voltaire's story would be just a story and it wouldn't serve its purpose of criticizing and questioning.

The Modern Gadfly

Socrates was often nicknamed the "Gadfly" because of his consistent questions and critiques of his friends' philosophies. This behavior instantly reminds me of Jenny Holzer.

Jenny Holzer is an artist who has been active since the mid-70s. She inspired, along with some other wonderful ladies like Barbara Kruger and Cindy Sherman, an incredibly vivid feminst art scene. Her body of work is mainly installations of projections or LED lights in public places. She uses mainly very short texts that are beautiful the first time you read them and thouroughly thought-provoking the second time you read them. These texts raised lots of questions about social injustice, particulary gender inequalities, politics, and society as a whole. For example:

• "Men Don't Protect You Anymore" spelled out on a theatre marquee
• "It is in your self-interest to find a way to be very tender" also spelled out on a marquee
• "Potential counts for nothing until it is realized" scrolling across and LED sign
• "Abuse of Power comes as no surprise" as an airplane banner

and countless other pieces of this nature. She clearly challenges the status quo with her own maxims. In doing so, she's inspired women and men around the world alike to think for themselves outside of society and examine their lives, as the original gadfly has suggested. 

The Unexamined Life

Socrates said that the "unexamined life is not worth living". By this, he means that life can't be truly full if you float through life not examining critically the decisions and choices you make. Even though it would still be possible to be happy without scrutinizing every detail, such a life could not be lived to the very fullest extent.
I am in complete agreement with this statement. For example, I think that you can't really guess what is best for you. To truly know what path will lead to true happiness and satisfaction, you need to think critically about the decisions you make, the outcomes that follow, and how you can acheive what you want. If you aren't examining your life to some extent, I don't believe your chances of finding this path are very high. In addition, I think drifting through life without any self-criticism or self-examination would lead to a very false sense of happiness and fulfillness. It seems like it would be very easy to lead yourself to believe that "everything is fine." How can you really know how you feel if you don't think about your feelings at all?
On the other hand, I think surpassing a certain degree of examination can be slightly dangerous. Heavily scrutinizing every single mark, decision, word and move you make could quickly lead one into insanity, or at least crippling self-conciousness (That's how I would feel, at least.). You don't need to think about your decision over which brand of milk to buy as thoroughly as you would have to think about your decision over which career path you should take, or which house you should buy.

About Me

My name is Elena-Ghislaine Valerie Elouadrhiri, but that's a mouthful: I prefer to go by Ellie. I like reading, drawing and listening to music. My favorite band is Tool, my favorite author is Kurt Vonnegut, and I have too many favorite artists to even begin to choose one. My mother grew up in Rock Island, Illinois and my father grew up between Morocco and Southern France. I'm a first-generation Chicagoan and I've lived here my whole life. I have one little brother, Evan. He is thirteen and in eighth grade. We are both graduating this year, which is quite exciting. I'm hoping to stay in Chicago for college, with a major in either physics or anthropology and a minor of art. I hope to attend the School of the Art Institute of Chicago or the University of Chicago. I'm very excited to move onto college! This year I am participating in Advanced Arts at Gallery 37, which means I get to leave school at 1:30 every day and take a 2-hour college level studio class. I also am taking two classes at Marwen Arts and I have a job at LYFE Kitchen in River North, which I love. I have a very full schedule this year but I'm excited for everything that is on my plate. In the future, I want to illustrate children's books, tattoo people, have an "official" career. I want to eventually move to France or Morocco, rreconnect with my Mediterannean roots, raise a family, grow all of our own food, and make lots of art.