Literary Analysis Essay on Candide and The Metamorphosis

Introduction

Candide and the Metamorphosis are novels narrating the life stories of two main characters Candide and Gregor Samsa as well as other characters developed by the authors. The two main characters in both the stories play a great role in showing perseverance, patience, courage and positive attitude towards life. They both face good and tough times throughout their lives which at the end they end up giving conclusions as well as showing that the self is the most important aspect that individuals should first face and develop a positive attitude in order to live happily. The authors use these two characters to pass a positive attitude towards life and also to show that life is useless because it has the better parts and the worst parts also it has an end. This paper will try to analyze both the characters in the two texts and their traits.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Candide

Candide is French literary writing by the Age of Enlightenment philosopher Voltaire. The novel was first published in the year 1759 and translated to English versions in 1759 then 1762 and later in 1947. Candide is characterized by its tone also its fast-moving, erratic and fantastical plot. Candide is a name that generally means innocent and just as his characteristics as well as his name, Candide is a very innocent character in the story. He trusts everyone and he is a very simple individual. Candide was assumed to be the son of Baron's sister and loved Cunegonde very much but was never ready to confess it. He is very gentle and a good listener a case that can be witnessed when he listens to the talks of Pangloss and believes every word that he said to him despite the fact that he did not really acknowledge or understand his talk that seemed high flown.

Candide gets too much attracted to Cunegonde who according to Voltaire was a very beautiful lady. Candide yearns for her from the beginning of the novel all the way to the end and mainly aims at achieving her. At one point he has ever seen in a romantic position with Cunegonde a situation that makes the Baron very angry with Candide to a point that he throws him out of the castle. It was at this time after he is thrown out of the castle that Candide undergoes different adventures until the end of the Novel. Throughout this period, Candide matures to a practical and experienced man from being only an innocent boy.

Candide learns that one always do not have a choice among the good and the bad when he was given an opportunity to choose between flogging and execution and he gets to know that at some point one has to choose between the bad and the worst. Candide is terrorized by earthquakes and war to an extent that he starts doubting the theory by Pangloss. Whenever Candide comes across goodness from time to time within the evil society that he lives, his faith is restored. Candide finds hope in the kindness of the old lady as well as that of Jacques. The evils and other events that he encounters such as the auto-da-fe shakes Candide's faith and his endurance for sufferings has limits and this can be seen when he killed the Grand Inquisitor as well as Don Issachar in self-protection.

He also pushes a sword through the son of Baron and leaves him thinking that he was dead which he did not hence survive. It reached a point when Candide became tired with the life that he was living and therefore went to America with the hope that he would find a better world there. In America, Candide learns that the place was no better than Europe. He gets sick in Paris and in England, his health becomes better to an extent that he becomes a representation of Voltaire himself since Voltaire often became disgusted in France while in England he becomes much better of. Rohan Chabot is a nobleman who ill-treats Candide. Just like Voltaire was in imprisoned, Candide also was imprisoned in Bastille without any clear reasons or claims. It was presumed that Voltaire could have been Rochebrune's illegitimate son while Candide was Baron's sister illegitimate son.

It was through a number of adventures that were eerie, tragic and comic that Candide turns to a well experienced and mature person. Candide learns that it was only in Eldorado where one could find joy and peace otherwise everywhere else was sin and suffering alone. It reaches a point when the king is free from vanity and thereby welcomes Candide as an equal but on the earthly paradise, Candide does not stay long due to the intensity of love he had for Cunegonde so he leaves to go and look for her. Candide regresses to bleak pessimism whenever he fails to find her and it is at this moments that he starts seeing martin's words that there is nothing but illusion being right.

Candide reverts to a feeling of optimism when he rushed to Cunegonde since he feels to have lost nothing as he rushed back to her arms. He becomes happy since his position feels to be better than that of the dethroned kings and starts wondering whether the theory and philosophy by Pangloss were right. After some questioning on whether everything was right even after being mercilessly dissected, beaten and hanged, Candide came to a conclusion that pessimism by Martin and philosophy by Pangloss was wrong and rejected them. Candide comes across a Dervish who impresses him by telling him that he should not meddle in philosophical questions and concludes that it was only through work that needs, boredom as well as vice, the three great evils can be conquered.

At the end of the novel, Candide becomes disillusioned and bored by the ugliness of Cunegonde as well as her shrewish behavior and here Candide realizes that despite some instances when life can become ideal, one can make it tolerable through being honest, practical as well as hardworking. He learns that one can never get the garden of Eden but he/she can cultivate in his/her own garden and make themselves reasonably happy. This is the message that Voltaire passes to the readers of the novel through the character of Candide.

Gregor Samsa

Gregor Samsa is a character in The Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. This novel was first published in 1915 and it emerges to be one of the best-known works of Kafka. The Metamorphosis is a novel comprising of a story of Gregor Samsa who was a salesman. In the story, Gregor is surprised when he woke up one morning inexplicably transformed into a very huge insect a situation that he struggles very much to adjust to. Gregor is the main character in the story and before he transformed, he worked as a traveling salesman in order to raise money for his parents and sisters. After transforming, it becomes hard for him to work and in most of the remainder of the story, Gregor is confined in his room.

Despite Gregor transforming completely into an insect, he does not change much of his character throughout the metamorphosis. Both as an insect and as a man, Gregor is able to patiently accept the hardships that he faced without complaining and this can be seen in a situation whereby the business of his father failed and was able to accept his new role of being the money provided for the family without any questioning even though it was a situation that forced him to undertake a job that he did not like as a traveling salesman. Also when he realized that he had transformed into an insect Gregor did not bemoan his new condition or even wonder what had caused the transformation, he also did not even try to rectify the transformation but instead he accepts his new transformation and figures out on how his life would continue in this new condition and still remain flowing as before.

The story shows of how Gregor was forbearance calm without explaining how or even any questioning on how the odd transformation occurred or even remarking the strangeness of the transformation but instead the story moves on quickly just like Gregor from the metamorphosis and focuses on the consequences resulting from Gregor's change. For Gregor, this meant being accustomed by the new body. In the story, the main conflict that Gregor faces is the reconciliation of the human feels and thoughts with his new insect body. Despite transforming into an insect, Gregor still wanted to go to work in the order he could provide for the family and he takes longer to keep it in mind that he was no longer able to play the role again in the family and also the fact that he could never get outside under his new state.

As the story continues, the insect body of Gregor influences his psychology in an increasing manner and he finds ease hiding under the sofa in the dark like a bug despite the fact that his body would not fit under the sofa comfortably. Gregor also discovers that he is much comfortable and enjoys crawling on the ceiling and the walls but after all his humanity never disappeared entirely. He still has memories of his human life that are strong and feels human emotions too. Gregor felt that he would be more physically comfortable when all the furniture in his room were removed since he could be able to crawl around more comfortably but he panics when he saw his mother and Grete taking the furniture out even the writing table that he used to do his assignments on when he was a young boy.

In order for Gregor hold some of his human life reminders, he clung on a picture of a woman who was muffled in fur to ensure no one took it away. He is later unable to adapt to his new body and identifying a new role that he could play in the family and therefore becomes ashamed of his presence in the house. At the end of the story, Gregor feels haunted by thought and hope that he could be able to control the affairs of the family again and return to his role as the money earner in the family. Later on, he thinks that it would be best for the family when he disappears completely, therefore, he dies as much as he lived in acceptance of his fate with no complaint and thinking of the best interests of the family.

The two characters in the stories are understanding, innocent, loving, humble, courageous, brave, optimistic and think beyond themselves. They live a life that is both good and bad by first living a good life and later on facing a tough life which shows them that of the two lives is better but what is better is the self-acknowledgment of what is better for self and for others. The authors of the two texts use the two characters to instill a positive attitude towards life in the mind of the reader and also as a motivation to those who face different moments in life