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Adrienne Gosnell
1st Period
English
In the satirical Candide, written by frenchman Voltaire, there is use of situational irony in the juxtaposition between the rich and poor, which points out the flaws in both social classes. Some specific examples demonstrating these situations are Candide coming from Westphalia to Holland, leaving El Dorado and encountering the sugar slave, and reuniting with Paquette and her client to immediately go in search of Pococurante.
In the beginning, Candide has a very high opinion of Westphalia, believing it to be the greatest place in the whole world, and thought to be the richest. He bases this opinion on his small experience with the country, never having been anywhere except his castle. It is presented as a place of learning, and therefore higher class, by simply being able to afford a teacher of sorts which most of the masses would not have access to. The characters did not realize that their views of aristocracy would not be shared by those that have had experience with people of higher rank than they. Once outside the castle walls, specifically in Holland, this is proven to be true. As demonstrated in this quotation, “After a time he reached Holland, where his provisions ran out: but having heard that everyone in that country was rich, and that they were all Christians, he had no doubt that he would be treated there as well as he had been in the Baron’s castle...” (Voltaire 8) Candide thinks he will be treated well simply because he once lived in riches and they should be happy to restore him to his former state with no work on his part.
Next Cacambo and Candide come to El Dorado, a place with no problems - real or man-made - made possible by the fabulous wealth of the land. The inhabitants are so wealthy it is made ironic as what would be viewed as riches to the rest of the world is so devalued in their culture by availability and deflation it is valued only in its physical properties, resorting to sterling silver as a currency. This is shown as the only truly happy country in the book. When they finally leave, they are brought back to reality by immediately coming into contact with a slave on a sugar plantation. He is in a desolate state, including amputated limbs caused by the dangers of the job, which is assumed he blames on the rich Europeans for inadvertently causing by consuming the sugar he worked to make by saying “It is the price we pay for the sugar you eat in Europe.” (Voltaire 52). The fast comparison suggests that perhaps El Dorado isn’t as well off as it seems, and might have a dark underground which keeps their system running smoothly.
Lastly is Martin and Candide’s unexpected encounter with Paquette and her client, as well as the men’s speculation on what became of Cunegonde and Cacambo. Candide complains about Cunegonde not arriving yet, assuming because she was high class that she would have no trouble from anyone in her plans. He forgets from his own travels that obstacles often delay the characters and that such troubles can affect others also, a running theme throughout the book. The false belief that if something is truly for the better it will happen exactly how the person thinks is the ‘right’ way often leads the characters to the wrong conclusion. Martin is also guilty of quick assumption when he says “ If he finds her, he is going to keep her for himself. If he does not find her, he is going to take up with someone else: my advice to you is to forget your valet Cacambo and your mistress Cunegonde” (Voltaire 71). He is assuming Cacambo was a thief and took off to live a better life, when in fact he had stayed loyal. This demonstrates how most people would react, assuming the worst in people whether or not that is indeed the case. When Paquette and Girofleo come into play, while they do not have any true need, are in the dregs of society and horrified at the turns their lives have taken. While it is easy to sympathize with them as they explain their stories, a degree of ingratitude for the things they do have can easily be seen, especially in the case of Brother Girofleo. He does not have any true needs and has a set rhythm to his life, yet the parts he finds unpleasant are emphasized more strongly than the times that are enjoyable, making him view the whole as unpleasant. They demonstrate how one can have a good life but still be dissatisfied. Despite past experience of money not helping a situation, pointed out by Martin, Candide insists on giving a large amount of money to help Paquette and Girofleo. More money for the sake of happiness rarely succeeds in its goal. Pococurante is the extreme version of this means to fill happiness. He may be the richest singular man in the world, but is bored by all his possessions. His jaded life is proof that more wealth is not always the best answer.
Word Count: 855

Adrienne Gosnell
1st Period
English
In the satirical Candide, written by frenchman Voltaire, there is use of situational irony in the juxtaposition between the rich and poor, which points out the flaws in both social classes. Some specific examples demonstrating these situations are Candide coming from Westphalia to Holland, leaving El Dorado and encountering the sugar slave, and reuniting with Paquette and her client to immediately go in search of Pococurante.
In the beginning, Candide has a very high opinion of Westphalia, believing it to be the greatest place in the whole world, and thought to be the richest. He bases this opinion on his small experience with the country, never having been anywhere except his castle. It is presented as a place of learning, and therefore higher class, by simply being able to afford a teacher of sorts which most of the masses would not have access to. The characters did not realize that their views of aristocracy would not be shared by those that have had experience with people of higher rank than they. Once outside the castle walls, specifically in Holland, this is proven to be true. As demonstrated in this quotation, “After a time he reached Holland, where his provisions ran out: but having heard that everyone in that country was rich, and that they were all Christians, he had no doubt that he would be treated there as well as he had been in the Baron’s castle...” (Voltaire 8) Candide thinks he will be treated well simply because he once lived in riches and they should be happy to restore him to his former state with no work on his part.
Next Cacambo and Candide come to El Dorado, a place with no problems - real or man-made - made possible by the fabulous wealth of the land. The inhabitants are so wealthy it is made ironic as what would be viewed as riches to the rest of the world is so devalued in their culture by availability and deflation it is valued only in its physical properties, resorting to sterling silver as a currency. This is shown as the only truly happy country in the book. When they finally leave, they are brought back to reality by immediately coming into contact with a slave on a sugar plantation. He is in a desolate state, including amputated limbs caused by the dangers of the job, which is assumed he blames on the rich Europeans for inadvertently causing by consuming the sugar he worked to make by saying “It is the price we pay for the sugar you eat in Europe.” (Voltaire 52). The fast comparison suggests that perhaps El Dorado isn’t as well off as it seems, and might have a dark underground which keeps their system running smoothly.
Lastly is Martin and Candide’s unexpected encounter with Paquette and her client, as well as the men’s speculation on what became of Cunegonde and Cacambo. Candide complains about Cunegonde not arriving yet, assuming because she was high class that she would have no trouble from anyone in her plans. He forgets from his own travels that obstacles often delay the characters and that such troubles can affect others also, a running theme throughout the book. The false belief that if something is truly for the better it will happen exactly how the person thinks is the ‘right’ way often leads the characters to the wrong conclusion. Martin is also guilty of quick assumption when he says “ If he finds her, he is going to keep her for himself. If he does not find her, he is going to take up with someone else: my advice to you is to forget your valet Cacambo and your mistress Cunegonde” (Voltaire 71). He is assuming Cacambo was a thief and took off to live a better life, when in fact he had stayed loyal. This demonstrates how most people would react, assuming the worst in people whether or not that is indeed the case. When Paquette and Girofleo come into play, while they do not have any true need, are in the dregs of society and horrified at the turns their lives have taken. While it is easy to sympathize with them as they explain their stories, a degree of ingratitude for the things they do have can easily be seen, especially in the case of Brother Girofleo. He does not have any true needs and has a set rhythm to his life, yet the parts he finds unpleasant are emphasized more strongly than the times that are enjoyable, making him view the whole as unpleasant. They demonstrate how one can have a good life but still be dissatisfied. Despite past experience of money not helping a situation, pointed out by Martin, Candide insists on giving a large amount of money to help Paquette and Girofleo. More money for the sake of happiness rarely succeeds in its goal. Pococurante is the extreme version of this means to fill happiness. He may be the richest singular man in the world, but is bored by all his possessions. His jaded life is proof that more wealth is not always the best answer.
Word Count: 855

One main annoyance of mine is the minimum age too work. Most proponents of children's rights try to stave off working as long as possible, yet I don't think this is fair. The laws were adjusted during the Industrial Revolution not because of the bad working conditions or with any benefit towards the children in mind, but to keep the fast-turning-obsolete adults in work. Because they had exactly the same skills and took less pay, the children were more efficient for the companies, and in some cases better suited for the job because of their size. While no one opposes that the situations they were put in were very dangerous, the jobs were exactly the same that everyone else had to do. It would have been a more just course of action to leave the children in, which would eventually follow the same course as adult organization with unions and the like for better conditions and wages. Now underage children who must help support their families must work under the table, which has a much higher chance that their services will be abused and makes it near impossible to create better conditions when not legally backed. While complete abandonment of these laws is unlikely to be upheld, the age should be lowered to be able to work, especially for less dangerous jobs. Candide has most of its young people in school, which is curious as at this time-period there was no compulsory education and many would be working with their families to support themselves.

I got a score of INTP, which I find to be very accurate. Introversion has me working alone by choice, without the trouble of having to deal with other people. Intuition is the ability that I don't always know how it works immediately, but that I know that it does, and eventually can prove it. This phenomenon is most likely from my intelligence moving too fast to keep up with and my disorganized thinking patterns. Thinking makes me horribly analytical, even in situations that don't call for it, and resistant to others' opinions if i find them influenced by their own situation or fallible in their reasoning. Perceiving, however, makes me accepting of all other information if there is no way to disprove it. This combination of T and P is quite useful in subjective matters such as religion or politics where there is no 'right' answer, yet there is no room for wrong ones. This test is useful when used to test characters in the book because it gives a reason to why they act the way they do in a given situation.

This passage is Torvald's answer to Nora in her apparent worry over a revenge attempt from Krogstad -a reasonable assumption considering that her father went through the same situation with that result. Torvald gives very little credence to Krogstad because of his opinion of him, belittling him and reassuring that he was a big enough man to take anything Krogstad threw at him. He also views her worry as a proof of love for him, implying he still needs some to believe that she does. Any emotion that was in her worry was out of self-preservation rather than love. In reality, it wasn't for his sake she was worried, but her own, as Krogstad told her before that any attack he would make would be against her and her forgery. Torvald had just sent a notice to Krogstad informing him of his firing, ending any chance she had at convincing Torvald not to fire him. This also closes most of the solutions she had on fixing her problem, making her more desperate and hysterical. Later in the story -once all pretenses are gone and her secret is revealed to him- she becomes very calm, as she no longer has to work around him and can get straight to the heart of the matter rather than finding a roundabout way of asking him or needing a way to side-step him. Anything that's on her mind she can say freely, and does so, revealing her true intentions this entire time.

In this passage Torvald talks about the evil of lying of wrongdoing, and compares it to a disease of a sort. This is an fairly accurate description, both in how it degenerates the original person into a much harder hole to get out of, and spreading to other people by the person's examples. Nora takes this in a literal sense, suggesting a bit of un-education, which would probably be the case for a women in the 1800s. There's a good deal of dramatic irony and possibly a little situational irony in this section, as Torvald constantly says how he despises such people and that they make him physically ill, yet we know his wife -the person closest in his life, living with him, even the closest person in proximity to him at the moment- had committed such a crime with no ill effects on his behalf, even after a long period of time. Such demonstrates a sort of placebo effect in that symptoms will only come about only if he believes they will come about, which he expects to because of his determination that lying is wrong, therefore should cause other negative qualities too, including physical ailments.He also places a big emphasis of the effect on children around such a situation. Going with his poison metaphor, they would indeed be more likely influenced by their parents actions, not having the time and experience to know much else, and be less stringent on the laws in their adult life.

would indicate IN PROGRESSa problem a secret from him, so he had no signal that would initiate a change from him. It was her mistake in not confiding in her husband, as perhaps he had a different solution that could have worked better for all of them, rather then pushing all the blame on him and having him deal with all the consequences instead of the one who wronged in the first place. Froms those points, I believe it was her who didn't love him, as she never thought to what his life was like always trying to fix her mistakes.

class discussion, peoplepeople,especially women, always talk never cared aboutfor Nora and life. While thatthis is true to ansome extent, being believe our current societalown point of view from the gender roles havehae biased us againstin such situations. this was set (late-ish 1800's?),set, the wife of the kidschildren and doing whatever it takestook to please the normal occurrence.occurence. If it demonstrated by Mrs.Ms. Linde's situation. the accepted set-upset up for a would indicate a problem a secret from him, so he had no indication that would initial a change from him. If perhaps she had introduced some lesser concerns of hers to him, he would have been alright with changing the routine, but because of her preconceived notion that he would reject an idea it was never discussed, thus could not be changed. While this may seem like an obvious solution in today's world, back then it was a losing situation because if he didn't oblige, her goal was for naught, and if he did oblige, then others might see him as weak towards his wife and also weak in his job, therefore not being up to the hassles of his promotion and be demoted to his former position or less. This would be bad for all of them as they would make less money and et cetera, all for the request of one relatively simple thing; a situation indicated by Krogstad. But because of our current society in which such an idea would be proposterous, the idea of Nora being horribly naive comes into play, and so does Torvald not loving her enough to give in rather than be reasonable. Perhaps all speculation is right, and it means exactly what we would expect it to mean, but I also think we should take in what was normal for the time period and examine how we might differ in our expectations from the authors intended message. IN PROGRESS

intended message. IN PROGRESS

In class discussion, people always talk about how Torvald never cared about Nora and that she was only an object in his game of life. While that is true to an extent, being an obvious main point of her distress, I believe our current societal roles have biased us against such situations. In the time that this was set (late-ish 1800's?), the wife staying home and taking care of the kids and doing whatever it takes to please her husband was fairly common and in fact the normal occurrence. If it were any other way she would be an anomaly and ostracized, demonstrated by Mrs. Linde's situation. I don't believe it was Torvald being especially hard on her or him not loving her enough to let her do whatever she wanted, it's because not only was it the accepted set-up for a household to function in, but there was a real force in people associating his home life with business responsibilities which needed to work in syncopation if the other was to work out. Also, Nora made a strong point to keep anything that would indicate a problem a secret from him, so he had no indication that would initial a change from him. If perhaps she had introduced some lesser concerns of hers to him, he would have been alright with changing the routine, but because of her preconceived notion that he would reject an idea it was never discussed, thus could not be changed. While this may seem like an obvious solution in today's world, back then it was a losing situation because if he didn't oblige, her goal was for naught, and if he did oblige, then others might see him as weak towards his wife and also weak in his job, therefore not being up to the hassles of his promotion and be demoted to his former position or less. This would be bad for all of them as they would make less money and et cetera, all for the request of one relatively simple thing; a situation indicated by Krogstad. But because of our current society in which such an idea would be proposterous, the idea of Nora being horribly naive comes into play, and so does Torvald not loving her enough to give in rather than be reasonable. Perhaps all speculation is right, and it means exactly what we would expect it to mean, but I also think we should take in what was normal for the time period and examine how we might differ in our expectations from the authors intended message.