Distracted by Candide

            As I sat down to read Candide, I prepared to reminisce on memories from my first experience reading the novel in eighth grade. So, I posted up in a study lounge and got to work, listening to music and getting down with this satire. And, right from the start, I began to laugh at the sarcastic humor spewing from Voltaire’s pen.

            Throughout the first few chapters, I enjoyed the fast-paced nature of the story. To me, it sort of seemed like how I like to think: stream-of-consciousness. I do not have ADD, but I feel like the way ADD people’s minds work is so cool. Walk down the road having a conversation, and then get distracted by a cute butterfly flittering past. They get a chance to observe nature in a way that most people miss. The distractions they have serve as a chance to notice the awesome things that people like me, who get too focused, would overlook.

            Anyways, this sort of relates to how reading Candide went for me. It was filled with distractions. About 15 minutes into reading, my mom called me to badger me about anything and everything. So, I’m trying to focus on the irony in a woman with only one butt cheek, and now I’m relating her to my mom. Awkward.

            As if it weren’t enough that my mom called me, about 20 minutes later, my dad gave me a call. I can picture the conversation at my house. Mom: “I just talked to Jimmy.” Dad: “How’s he doing? I’m going to call him too.” At least when I was talking to him, I was reading of Candide’s adventures in El Dorado, so he had a positive connection.

            Get off the phone with him, and I’m ready to buckle down and concentrate on the rest of the story. Wait. One more interruption. A friend from home giving me a call just to say hey.

            Then I realized that this is what is probably going through Candide’s head. He has himself completely focused on finding Cunegonde, then protecting her, and then marrying her. The only problem is he keeps getting distracted along the way. So, like me, while he has the right intentions, he seems to be faltering in his ability to execute his plans to find Cunegonde.

            Reading about Pangloss’ (and Candide’s) philosophy that this is the best of all possible world is very interesting to me. As a fervent Christian, I believe that everything happens for a reason and that God has a plan for my life. While I may not understand the things that happen along the way, I know that they happen for a reason.

            So, in a sense, I would say that we live in the best of all possible worlds. For some reason, God intersected my path and brought me to TCU. Since I’ve been here, all this other stuff has happened in my life that would be different if I had attended another institution. Even though there were some bumps along the way, it all happened for a reason. Because of this, even though the world around me may be “bad” by our standards of good and evil, it is the best of all possible worlds because things are happening for a reason.

            If my entire family were to be killed suddenly, I don’t know if I would be able to hold to this perspective, which we see in Candide’s story as well. After everybody around him is killed or taken away, he starts to doubt the teaching with which Pangloss raised him.

            As a whole, this story was very thought provoking and, well, filled with distractions. As it should have been. I guess I was just getting into Candide’s mindset in order to further understand the satire.