Please help with meaning behind this...

[sharky]

Hi everyone,
I have had a lot of trouble trying to work out the many meanings and interpretations of Candide.
I am hoping someone out there can help with this...
My boyfriend broke up with me last October. We had contact,but it got a little emotional on my side, beign friends is too hard (he also lives in another country)
Anyway, he maile dme Candide, no note inside, nothing, jsut the book. I have spent MONTHS trying to work out WHY he sent it.
To summarise, he ended it saying he wasnt ready to be in a serious relationship, (he is 9 years younger than me) but hopes one day we will be together. So, does him sending me the book mean:
1. the end line was "We must cultivate our own garden" : Is he saying that we must all find our own happiness,no-one else can provide it for us? (that is how i interpret the last lines)
OR
2. Is it the representation that he is Candide, and i am Cunegonde, and after he goes out into the world, he will return to me,as Candide did?

I am so confused! I have read and re-read it, there are so many themes within it, but maybe i am missing something? Is there an obvious theme within it that i am not seeing?

I thankyou in advance for any ideas or interpetations you may have, I am dying here trying to work it out!

THANKYOU :)

[kathycf]

Hi Sharky and welcome.

First, I am sorry to read of your situation...I have been there and it felt very crummy to me. What an odd book to send someone...I read Candide in high school and it seemed to me to be pointing out the foolishness of optimism. It is hard to speculate on why he would send you the book, perhaps he is trying to tell you to find your own happiness.

Sorry not to be of much help, highschool was many years ago so I don't remember much about Candide. Here are a couple of study guides if you like:

enotes (http://www.enotes.com/candide/)

sparknotes (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/candide/themes.html)

[sharky]

any ideas or interpretations will be so appreciated...

[Debrasue]

Not to sound unromantic.......but....wouldn't it be better to just ask him what the heck he means instead of leaving it up to interpretation? How can you know what to do if you don't know the truth? Exactly the point! He seems to be "in control" of the situation by keeping you guessing or forcing you to look for clues....do you really have the time for that.....unless you love reading the same book over & over....hoping for an answer......If it were me I'd mail the book back with a note, & just straight forward ask, then the ball's back in his court & he is forced to respond, hopefully without playing games .....but that's just me......you should do what's in your heart.......do you know if he even knows what the theme is....maybe you give him too much credit for knowing what it's about....I rarely give personal opinions of this nature...you seem to be desperate...maybe he just thought you would love to read a book...how are you to know?

Hope you work it out......
Debrasue

[sharky]

Thanks Debrasue...

i know, it would certainly be easier to ask him outright. I eluded to it in an email (he is overseas) as to the reason he sent it, asking "Could it be the represention of Candide traveling and experiencing the world, only to reunite with cunegonde in the end? Could it be a sign of hope,for us?"

he didn't respond. it was a long email about other stuff, and that question was within it...but he KNOWS i am waiting for him, so if that was NOT the reason he sent the book, wouldnt he let me know that WASN'T the reason he sent it, so i dont sit around waiting for him. That was the last contact we had, so it has been months of confusion and constant over-thinking. I know i shouldn't wait for him anyway, but it is a sense of hope, BUT it could also mean he is telling me that he cant make me happy,I must make myself happy, as is stated in the last line of the book ..."We must cultivate our own garden" (unless i have mis-interpreted the meaning of this line)
DARN this stupid book, it could mean so many things! I could be holding onto him when he didnt mean what i hope he means...!

HELPPP!! please!!

[kathycf]

I am sorry that the links I provided detailing themes within Candide were not helpful to you. I thought there was information contained there.


The Folly of Optimism (http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/candide/themes.html)
Pangloss and his student Candide maintain that “everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds.” This idea is a reductively simplified version of the philosophies of a number of Enlightenment thinkers, most notably Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz. To these thinkers, the existence of any evil in the world would have to be a sign that God is either not entirely good or not all-powerful, and the idea of an imperfect God is nonsensical. These philosophers took for granted that God exists, and concluded that since God must be perfect, the world he created must be perfect also. According to these philosophers, people perceive imperfections in the world only because they do not understand God’s grand plan. Because Voltaire does not accept that a perfect God (or any God) has to exist, he can afford to mock the idea that the world must be completely good, and he heaps merciless satire on this idea throughout the novel. The optimists, Pangloss and Candide, suffer and witness a wide variety of horrors—floggings, rapes, robberies, unjust executions, disease, an earthquake, betrayals, and crushing ennui. These horrors do not serve any apparent greater good, but point only to the cruelty and folly of humanity and the indifference of the natural world. Pangloss struggles to find justification for the terrible things in the world, but his arguments are simply absurd, as, for example, when he claims that syphilis needed to be transmitted from the Americas to Europe so that Europeans could enjoy New World delicacies such as chocolate. More intelligent and experienced characters, such as the old woman, Martin, and Cacambo, have all reached pessimistic conclusions about humanity and the world. By the novel’s end, even Pangloss is forced to admit that he doesn’t “believe a word of” his own previous optimistic conclusions.

[sharky]

i see there are lots of views on this thread....please anyone with any thoughts? i am desperate for interpretations!

[kathycf]

I am really quite at a loss to understand how difficult it can be to understand this text. Did you even bother to look at the two links I provided?

No, I imagine not. I responded to your request in a way that was meant to be helpful (not to mention welcoming) and you completely ignored my posts.

Candide is a satire. It points up hypocrisy in many parts of society. Have you considered the point of view that there is no hidden message from your ex-boyfriend? Perhaps he sent you the book just as something to read, for no other reason that that.

[kilted exile]

If you want to understand the book, look at the links. If you want to understand your ex ask him. We know neither you nor him and so can not say what he meant by sending it to you.

[Debrasue]

So I went back & re- read the story...........and all I can say is ....ummmm.....no interpretation of this book....is going to answer your question.......no matter how many times you read it! This is one of those stories that is so deep it's simple...or so simple it's deep!!! And it doesn't matter any way!

Debrasue

kathycf & kilted exile are right....we really can't help any more than we have tried.....it's all up to you now......

We need to get a smiley face with a foot in it's mouth....LOL!

[kathycf]

This post probably won't mean anything to you at all, Sharky, but...It occurs to me that you are investing Candide with too much meaning. In your apparent pain and confusion (that is what I am reading from your posts) you are trying to find the answers to larger questions than simply "themes from Candide". For example your asking if you are Cunegonde and is your bf Candide...does him sending you this book symbolize something.

I don't know you so can't speak to your experience, but those are the sort of questions that ran through my mind after my seperation from my now ex husband. I would invest a simple phone call or card received from him with all these hidden meanings..."Oh he must be trying to tell me something because he wrote "love" on this card!". Sadly, he only wrote the word "love" as a closing salutation because that is a common thing to do. Sort of like writing "yours truly" at the end of a letter. I drove myself nuts trying to figure out "What is he really trying to say!!!!???".

The answer is...nothing. Most of the time there are no secret messages or meanings. When we are hurt, we often try to find meaning, to understand "why". Sometimes, as much as it hurts it is just best to move on.

[Debrasue]

kathycf,

It does mean something because most of us have been there at sometime! You're response is very thoughtful & sensitive.......

Sharky....just know that we do try to help & be sympathetic....

Respectfully,
Debrasue

[sharky]

Thankyou both for your posts...i certainly DO appreciate them, i really do.
I am hurting so much right now,that i am posting here to gain help from strangers. Sometimes we get so into the situation we cant think straight,thats why i thought asking on this literary forum someone might have read it and realized what the book meant. I have spent so much time thinking about it, i cannot think straight anymore!
My ex was very intelligent and well-read, so i know he would have sent it for a reason. this was after we had split,so he had no reason to send me ANYTHING, let alone a book like that.
I really believe he sent it for a reason, whether or not it was a positive or negative reason, i do not know, but he has absolutely no reason to send me anything.Why send something to your ex overseas when you arent in contact? It is too obscure.
I apologize if I seem desperate or pathetic, but I am so hurt and depressed,as you said Kathy-we DO look for meaning in things and gesture like this for any meaning,esp when we still love them.
Anyway, I dont know why he sent it, i wish i knew. I did ask him, but to no avail. I do know,it wasnt for no reason. I do not know what else to think, I have been so despondent,unable to get my life together. i dont even work,have locked myself in my apartment for 7 months and become a recluse, so that is why i am so upset and desperate for answers.
Anyway, thankyou for your the time you took to respond, i do appreciate it.

[kathycf]

Erg, at the risk of seeming condescending I think it might help you to seek some counselling about this issue. I am prone to depression anyway, but the time leading up to and the months after my seperation were amongst the darkest of my life. I had to be hospitalized at one point. The divorce came many months after that...it was horrible.

What you describe now, sharky is sounding awfully familiar. It might seem like a difficult step to you, but counselling might help. It doesn't mean you are crazy, and you don't have to go forever, but I think you need some help...and I am not saying that in a mean way whatsoever, but becoming a recluse is not healthy. (and I know from experience...)

I heartily recommend that you put aside Candide for now. Read through some of the other parts of the forum. There is poetry and general lit, plus you can read member submitted short stories and poems. There is also a general chat section here and forum games. Give them a try, people here are nice (even me, when I am not being an oversensitive dork ;) )

[Debrasue]

Sharky, sweetie........I've been there also......and I had no one to relate to at all.....and that was the real torture! Don't ask how I pulled thru it ....I'm just ornery that way I guess....kathycf is right......and she is not the only oversensitive dork here...just look at me! LOL! I do tend to use alot of levity to remain positive......so please don't misinterpret anything I might say...really, I have only your best interest at heart.......would love to see you post more in another thread...like chat......and if I may be so bold (oh no! warrior woman alter ego coming out!)...maybe this is a good thing....that you have been guided here...not to find the meaning of the book...but rather....support....& friendship...;)

Love,
Debrasue

[DapperDrake]

sharky, you may well be reading too much into this. You say he was well read and fond of books... maybe he just liked Candide as a book and gave it to you as something of himself, that sounds stupid perhaps but I've done that myself. Just before I split from my last serious relationship I gave my GF but The Waves and Frankenstein - for no reason than that these were two of my favourite books and I thought she might be able to share something with me.
However I must say I made it clear to her where our relationship stood.

As personal advice I would say forget the book and move on.

however if he does have some meaning to convey in the book I would suggest that it might be purely related to him, and what he is doing with his life, rather than some sort of comment on you both.