The Garden State - response to Candide by Voltaire

This past summer, I met a sweet schoolteacher who relayed her success in gardening with her students. She proceeded to share images with me of third graders digging in topsoil and plucking at tomatoes.  A community garden seemed to be a wonderful and interactive tool; however, it was not until my reading Candide that I was able to wholly appreciate the teacher’s stories.

At Candide’s conclusion, the protagonist and his friends/mentors finally established a positive lifestyle centered around the cultivation of a garden.  The idea to do so was derived from a neighbor’s pure happiness. “’I have but twenty acres,’ replied the Turk. ‘I cultivate them with my children; our work keeps at bay the three great evils: boredom, vice, and necessity.’” The purpose of this dialogue was to promote work ethic and, through such, free will.  Although Pangloss concluded that “man was not born for rest,” it is a division of labor and pursuit of individual interest in work that sustains a society or garden. In Voltaire’s happy ending, Cunégonde focused as a pastry chef, Brother Girofleo on carpentry, and Paquette on embroidery.  As Martin believed that all people are equally miserable, all may be equally joyful in their garden state. Each participant is able to execute their individual task with purpose and care, eliminating the three evils that have plagued the travelers throughout the novel. 

Further, Voltaire suggested through his garden metaphor that humans were created to impact others. Such was exemplified by the significance of the relationships read of in Candide. In order to make satire of Leibnitz’s philosophy, Voltaire described ridiculous circumstances that led characters through perilous situations and countless injustices; however, the characters’ overlapping stories and rekindling in the garden served also as a physical demonstration of humans’ impact on others.  Another example of impact was shown in the Candide’s naivety when joining the Bulgar army.  It was “only human” for freedom to guide a young, inexperienced man to a place of conformity: an army. Observing the devastation that this Bulgar army had caused, as well as the identical devastation generated by the Abars, Candide became an unbiased philosopher.  Yet, one who has seen the light must also see the cave wall before instituting widespread change.  Candide found war depraving; however, he still found war. It was evident in the protagonist’s later murdering of Don Isaacar and the Grand Inquisitor that the concept of killing was integrated into Candide’s mentality after his army experiences.  Even in the novel’s optimistic closing chapter, Candide encountered hostility: the great Turkish philosopher was assumptive, egotistical, and rude toward Candide and co. In order to satirize some philosophers (possibly Leibnitz himself), Pangloss suggested a thoughtful, multi-perspective discussion of the world. The philosopher slammed his door in Pangloss’ face because the Turk was not open to Pangloss’ perspective; he was not accepting of the man’s fruits of labor; he was not willing to accept the production of another’s cultivated garden.  It is my belief that the Turk would then grow a limited number of crops. 

The final line phrase of Candide read “'…we must cultivate our garden.’” It is true that the surviving needed to prevent themselves from boredom, vice, and necessity as well as produce fruits of labor that impact others.  However, Candide had been cultivating a mental garden throughout the entire storyline. The character had transformed from a naïve Leibnitz follower to a worldly rational thinker in response to new knowledge, experiences, and perspectives.  Likewise, a garden utilizes natural resources to birth a new reality.

The schoolteacher’s class project was a garden in its truest form.  Using natural resources as dirt, seeds, and old rubber tires, the third graders eschewed boredom; rather, they constructed an empire of produce that has altered not only their realities in concern to nutrition and eco-friendly habits, but has also inspired other grades and families at the school.   Similar to that of the schoolteacher, Voltaire’s message in Candide was to create and impact through purpose , free will, and rational recognition of the good and bad in situations. Where third graders and naïve princes succeed, the positive, revered, comforting Leibnitz had failed.