Optimism

 Candide by Voltaire

Optimism is streaked through Candide. It is even in the title. At first glance it would seem that optimism fades from the start. Candide first thought the world a happy place and believed Pangloss when told this is a good world. It took him going out into the world to see it isn’t a good place. This doesn’t have to mean that optimism can’t still be alive and well. This is hit home with the old woman saying “a hundred times I wanted to kill myself, but always I loved life more (Candide 118).” Their very life is what allows them to be optimistic.

Pangloss believes that all good things come from bad and that this, the world, is the right. He says all things in this world are for the best. A lot of his arguments come from if this happens then this happens, this type of argument believes if one is true the other is also true. There are a lot of holes in this. Pangloss can’t prove that the bad caused the good as he claims. Even if he could that cannot prove that the good could not have come without the bad. He cannot prove that if we tried we couldn’t improve the bad and make only good improvements. He also fails to take into account wroth. Was the bad worth what was gained in good things? He even states a disease “which thus strikes at and defeats the greatest end of Nature herself-we should have neither chocolate nor cachineal (Candide 106).” Something that prevents a great part of nature is completely forgiven because of chocolate. I know we like chocolate but really? Later on it even says chocolate killed the prince of Massa-Carrara. Of course it wasn’t the chocolate that would kill him but shouldn’t it be enough that it was called chocolate? Either way it isn’t seen as a good thing and makes even Pangloss’s good things seem less so.

Voltaire makes Pangloss look very useless. He doesn’t do anything, he maintains no active part in the world, and in the end he impacts no one, or at least does not maintain whatever impact he did focus on others. Pangloss’s only importance was while he was teaching. When his students left he had nothing. Beyond that his teachings where undermined throughout the whole story by Candide’s experiences. At the same time Pangloss’s believe means he takes no responsibility. In his tail of what befell Cunegonde and her family he says nothing about what he went through. More than likely he was hiding like a cowered and watched the raping of women and the splattering of those whose castle he resided in. He speaks in such a way that even the most horrible thing is considered an everyday event and without distinction other than to wax poetically.

The experiences within the story are all of comedic horror. You would think that this was being out of the way in writing this way because of the time period but we do the same thing nowadays. Rape jokes, gold diggers, and anything else is thrown in. All this builds up to the main point of the story. We are constantly trying to one up each other. Candide is born from this nature. His father is believed to be a “respectable, honest gentleman (Candide 100),” yet his mother refused to marry him leaving Candide fatherless. The old woman believes she has suffered more than anyone, as if that is to be bragged about!

I feel, within the old woman’s story, is among the most profound lines of the entire book. “These are such common matters that they are not worth describing (Candide 116).” This is an awful thing to say after telling of a rape. This story takes place during the enlightenment, a time period where people are realizing they have control of their actions. We take this for a given today. Yet this line still has a great deal of impact because it is still not something we talk about. The very belief behind why rape happens hasn’t changed much since this time period. This is a line that is meant to be satire and has nothing to do with speaking to the future but I can’t help but take it that way seeing as this is a story about change in the time period that did a great deal of it. I don’t see this as a bad thing though. Voltaire put his humor right up against real life events, such as the conditions of Moracco and the great Lisbon earthquake.

I want to take a moment to look at Paquette because she stands out from the other women of the story. Marrying was never brought up with her and most, if not all, of her sexual encounters are of her own free will. She is working class and seems a very fitting representative of society. She has to work for whoever is around and isn't happy about it. The most important part is she is expected to be happy about it.

Now optimism is the question within this story but I can't help but feel I interchange it with hope. So is there hope? I would say there is. Candide expressed it every time he found someone he lost along the way, starting with the sheep that he would find the life he wanted to lead. "Candide was more joyful to recover this one sheep than he had been afflicted to lose a hundred of them, all loaded with big Eldorado diamonds. (Candide 135)." He did not find this life but as Pangloss says all is for the best. His view may be flawed but Candide's hope made him gather the people he meet together and they now have a chance to be happy.

Voltaire is full of hard truths and conflicting personality views. "Very little virtue or happiness upon earth, except perhaps in El Dorado, where nobody could gain admittance (Optimism 87)." Eldorado is everything you would think of in the perfect place and yet Candide leaves. Why? There are two ways I see this, mine and what I believe Voltaire wanted. First Voltaire, he implies that Eldorado means nothing to Candide because it lacks status. He cannot be rich or important here at all. This is seen again when he wishes to marry Cunegonde, even when she is ugly, because her brother blatantly says Candide is not good enough. My view depends on Compassion.

Compassion means, in the original Latin of this time period, co-suffering. Candide could not be happy in Eldorado because no one there shared his suffering. "Secret griefs are more cruel than public calamities (Optimism 70)." We need each other and I believe Candide knew this, after all he took the time to buy the freedom of those he traveled with, and he knew at the very end that they could come together to build a world for themselves. No the book did not tell of them finding some great happiness but it does tell of them gaining value in themselves and with each other.

"So God created man in his own image in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them (637-41)(Genesis 1: 27)." "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (589-91)(Genesis 2:15)."

Ok so the Bible is a pretty common thing and a good many people feel they know it but I'm betting most would say God made man to worship him but you are wrong. At the end Candide says "we must cultivate our garden (Optimism 113)." Eve is mother of all reason; her eating of the fruit allows us to see what we could not before. If you know anything of logic and philosophy you know there are three stages information, knowledge, and finally wisdom. Information is just facts, you don't have to know what they can do, knowledge is applying facts with some degree of understanding, and finally wisdom is having a grasp of how knowledge can be used. I bring up the garden, Eve, and logic all at once to make one firm point, Eve ate from the tree of knowledge of good an evil. With Eve bringing reason into the world we only gained a light understanding of what is good or bad; it takes time to build wisdom from knowledge. They, and us, need to cultivate our gardens.

Throughout these hard ships they have gained empathy, understanding, and now rely on each other for compassion. They start to learn what skills they each have and enrich themselves as well as their company. They no longer have value in what they are born to but what they, themselves, do.

"Genesis." 2011. The Holy Bible ESV: English Standard Version : Containing the Old and New Testaments. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2001. N. pag.Ebook reader.

Voltaire. Candide. New York: Boni and Liveright, 1918. Ebook Reader.

 Voltaire. "Candide, or Optimism." 2013. The Norton Anthology World Literature. Vol. 2. New York: W.W. Norton &, 2013. 97-159. Print. 1650 to the Present.

Death Star Intros Part 2

Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry

Spoilers: You have been Warned

Chapter(s): 5,6, and 7

Dr. Kornell Divini is another example of things to remember when dealing with the military, the possibility of a draft. Last time I brought up how Rebels had to kill all those on the Death Star in order to take down the Empire. Knowing that a doctor, a man meant to help people, that doesn't want to be there in the first place, is on the space station does not sit well. Nether does his being from Tatooine, same as our hero. Let's take a look at the effects of the Empire. The doctors are to give extra care to Wookiees because of their working ability but others are expendable. He is noticing the wills around him but he isn't fully like them yet, he is still the new boy. He has the sense to wonder why wookiees are working for the Empire. It doesn't take long for him to realize they are like him, not there by choice.

Darth Vader is the only person so far we should have any expectations of. I don't really think mine where met. That doesn't have to be a bad thing though. This is what I didn't like, the fact he still feels he "reverts...to what Obi Wan Kenobi...has made of him (52)." I don't feel that is something he would have thought, that he was still what he once was. I'll see where it goes though. Other than this feeling of disapproval of the 4 pages of Vader's first appearance, I feel one thing was really worth commenting on that adds to what we know of him and ties into some of the earliest comments made about him. "Fear was good- in others (50)." This to me screams that he has not forgotten what put him by the side of the Empire, his own fear. This is a great flash back to "Episode 1"'s first meeting of Anakin and Yoda. I like this allusion because it is not overly blatant like I have seen some references be.

Sergeant Nova Stihl intrigues me. He is into philosophy and quotes a philosopher who says, "I know myself to be only as I appear to myself (45)." Nova heavily implies he thinks of himself as a good man but a simple one. The problem with good men is they rationalize how they are good men. He is a good man, he really is and I'm not taking that away from him, but he clearly tones down the wrong that is clearly around him. He feels sympathy for political prisoners, at the same time though he is a bit harsh about the world around him. Part of him knows that lack of free speech is wrong but he expects you to know your society and where you stand in it. In his would you act in the interest of your government for the good of all. He has one major flaw, he knows he is a good person, this is the government he works for, and he has no reason to question the goodness of that government.

 Reaves, Michael, and Steve Perry. Star Wars: Death Star. New York: Lucas/Del Rey/Ballantine, 2007. Print.

We Hate Women

Mary Sue, What are you?

or why the concept of a Sue is sexist.

From Poisoned by Hatred

This essay is witty and straight to the point. Mary Sue was a concept I just didn't get till I read this and maybe for a good reason. I never got how to tell what a Mary Sue was or how to spot one. I believe this comes down to the way I read. I like a character or I don't and that is pretty much all the justification I need. I feel this keeps the focus right where it needs to be, on my enjoyment. This essay's question reminds me there is more to look at and reason with. Do I, as a girl and a person, give slack to guys because they have been uplifted for so long?

I'm not much into movement and never cared about women's power. I believe an individual is capable so long as they work. Do that and there is no problem. That sounds so naive, doesn't it? Well my dad works hard, believes in working hard, and wanted a boy. Maybe I was doomed. Of course there are others who will judge women more harshly than a man. They are just one type of person though; I don't have to deal with them. But yes you do they are your boss and others in your life. That is true but I feel leading by example is probably more effective. How can I do that if I am paying attention to the thing I don't want to be like?

Ok, so I believe in learning and potential in the real world but what about the written worlds? I feel things are not as favorable. I always seem to be more attracted to male characters. I can't be fully objective; I am after all a member of society even if I've never been the best with current events or happenings. I can't say I'm above the traps that you can fall into with this kind of gender bias. For all I know I already have and have been programmed to fall in love with these characters or wish I was them because men are so much better. Either way I can't rule it out. What can I do? I can start by looking at what I read and which characters I like.

The first thing that came to mind for female characters was Anime. From there I think I can sum up some of the things a character does or is for me to like them. There has to be some form of fighting. They have to be at least a bit of a hard ass. Well placed or earned power is a good thing. Jerks need love too. Some of the thoughts that got me here were asking me why I liked Sango better then Kagome in Inuyasha or why I didn't think of Sakura, from Naruto, as useless as people like to say she is. What finally brought it all together was Eowyn killing the Witch-King as the coolest thing ever.

Does this mean I can respect women as traditional women? After all Eowyn was posing as a man. Can I love femininity? I have to say yes and no. I feel I can like characters femininity only to a point. The only one that comes to mind that has any femininity, and lacks overtly male traits, is Hermione. Even she has to remind Ron that she is a girl. Maybe that is one of the reasons I like her, they are so close that the details of her gender are erased. The only house wife that I like and can think of is from Shin Chan. Oh my. Well till I gave it was pointed out that Izumi, FMA, is also a housewife, kick ass. I've also thought a little on Sailor Moon, I tried to watch it and read a good bit of the manga, I hated it. That makes no sense to me because I love to hear little summaries about it and I feel the art, or fan art, for it is to die for. Maybe that is a bit much, let’s just say I am attracted. I blame the plot and bad lines for my issue. Could it be more than that? I don't know.

This really is a lovely essay and I am so glad I found it. I don't feel my comments are needed but this makes for a good personal review. There are a ton of other women I could point out about but I'm blanking and wanting to keep this fairly short. It isn't about the women, over all, it is about how we view them. I liked Jurassic Park as a kid and I still like it now. Let’s leave it at that.

Death Star Intros Part 1

Death Star by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry

Spoilers: You have been Warned

Please note that I have not finished the book and all comments are speculation as I read through. Not every analysis will be done such as this one but I felt I had enough to comment on to start.

Chapter(s): 1, 2, 3, and 9

There is an epic, far reaching tail of good versus evil but this isn't it. In the Star Wars story you all know the Rebels must fight the tyrannical rule of the Empire. Within the Death Star a new story is told and this time it is about a system of government. No one here comes out without some ethical debate hanging around.

With Lieutenant Commander Villian we get our first glimpse into the workings of the most powerful weapon the Empire can think to make. There isn't much to make out in a large context from the first few pages but he sets up for a big realization. When ever we see Imperial Stormtroopers non can be distinguished from any other. The dehumanization is immense. Very few in "A New Hope" have faces that can be seen and none make us feel we are in safe company. The newer set of movies involve clones as Stormtroopers during the Clone Wars. This does nothing to remind us that Stormtroopers are people. After the new Star Wars movies we think that all Stormtroopers are clones. It can take a moment to see beyond that but Vil quickly dispels this by clearly stating he "nor any other TIE pilot that he knew of was a clone (Page 5)." Way to crash the party. Just with this comment we start slipping into a new mind set. Gone are the faceless and in come citizens serving their country. I don't know how most places in the world feel about their military but within the U.S. there is a lot of pride and love for those who serve. Vil himself also expresses the same pride as he looks onto the project he is there to protect.

Teela Kaarz is someone who should also have pride in her work. She was an architect with good standing. Was, till she was convicted for being a traitor. She was taken from the prison planet Despayre to help with the construction of the Death Star under Benits Stinex. Her work brings her shame. She tries to justify the work by making lives better. How many lives are we talking about? With the intro for Wilhuff Tarkin, the Grand Moff, we learn there will be a million on staff.

I took the time to talk about Teela because it leads nicely into realizing just who is on the space station. We know there are citizens serving their military but there is so much more then that. Wookiees taken against their will along with many other slaves. We don't know how many are from the prison world or not. In the original Star Wars the Rebels destroy all this and everyone in it. Surely not all on the station have done wrong, more than likely most have not, at least in the since of being apart of the Empire with their crimes. If the Rebels have taken so many lives why do we not see them as being wrong...at all? "But by doing what she knew how to do, she might actually save a few lives, or at least make those lives more comfortable. Yes, those lives would belong to servants of the Empire, but after all, not every single being here was evil. As rationalization went, that one wasn't so bad. Her inner self almost bought it (Page 63)." It is simple, it is the reason Teela feels shame, there can be no good while the Empire stands.

"To this war of every man, against every man, this also is consequent: that nothing can be unjust. The notions of right and wrong, justice and injustice, have there no place. Where there is no common power, there is no law, no justice. Force and fraud, are in war the two cardinal virtues." -Ibid.

I would like to thank the song Empire by Jukebox the Ghost for keeping me company wile I wrote this.

 Reaves, Michael, and Steve Perry. Star Wars: Death Star. New York: Lucas/Del Rey/Ballantine, 2007. Print.

 Seldes, George. The Great Quotations, with an Introduction by J. Donald Adams. New York: Pocket, 1968. Print.

Welcome

Words have power just by reading them. This makes reading literature one of the most fulfilling uses of your time. Just reading brings fulfillment but looking for a deeper understanding brings satisfaction. Not only do I wish to read more I wish to respond. I want to get my thoughts in order and out into the world.

I don't read that much but I am getting better. I believe a blog will help. Blogging has done wonders for my creating at Dreaming of Fish. There is just something so motivating about having to show the world.

If you couldn't tell this blog has a secondary theme beyond literature, that is Star Wars. Within the last year I was at GoodWill, the only place I can afford books normally, and there was more books for Star Wars then I could imagine being in one place. There had to be 50 books. It was like a Star Wars fan died. I had wondered what the chances of the originals being there. Chances turned out to be pretty good because there it was with a few others near year 0. That day I walked home with the first three, The Lando Calrissian Adventures, and The Han Solo Trilogy. Han Solo, How could I say no? I loved them all.

The Star Wars series meet all my needs. It had war, it is from another world yet not so removed from mine, it has multiple; powerful themes, harsh romance; no fluff for me, and good humor. Even with multiple writers the standard remains high. I love great lines and Star Wars provides. many lines are well worth the second read, even more so when delivered as scathingly as "it looks like it's up to me to save our skins. Get into that garbage chute, flyboy! (120)."

Star Wars has to be the biggest anthology on one world ever. I get supper into series to the point I don't want to let go when I find a good one. This series has the content to back that up. Just recently I got my hands on a copy of Death Star. Building projects and politics, sounds boring but it is anything but. It highlights what could have easily been avoided when thinking of the Death Star.

Mind you I won't only be going on about Star Wars. I have other interest and a good few books on my shelf. I look foreword to showing you a glimpse into my thoughts and hope you will read along with me.

One last thing: Warning this blog is spoilery as a caucus full of maggots!

Lucas, George. Star Wars. New York: Ballantine, 1993. Print.