Candide: Les Miserables
Godliness and Truth: Jean Valjean's Cultivation of a Garden During the 18th century, a popular philosophy was based upon the belief that because there is a supreme being all that we consider "evil" and "bad" is actually good and that the world, as it is, is right and good. It is this prophetic philosophy that Victor Hugo and Voltaire come to ridicule in their respective works of Les Miserables and Candide. In their literature, the theme of cultivating one's own garden plays a tremendous part in the evolution of the main characters, their life goals, and their final achievement of utter spirituality. Jean Valjean is introduced as a cruel, hardened criminal, but through a relationship with a unique bishop, he recognizes the morals and ethics of the world, and begins on a path toward complete purity. It is when Jean Valjean reaches complete purity and moral excellence that he has achieved the "cultivation of his garden." Hugo, a strong advocate of improvements in the judicial system, introduces Jean Valjean to his audience as "Jean Valjean entered the galleys sobbing and trembling; he left hardened. He entered in despair; he left sullen...He sentenced [society] to his hatred"(Hugo 87-88). Torture of the body and soul and lack of
Cosette's love keeps Jean Valjean away from evil, "which I, with my children, cultivate. He enters the "world," as Candide did, disillusioned and believing in a strict code. Jean Valjean believes in and follows a prisoner's code of the world being evil and its people are out to aid in his demise, whereas Candide believes that "all is the best possible" (Voltaire 49-50). love gave birth to a hardened, hateful creature. The state of peace that he reaches signifies that he has won his personal battle between good and evil and he has achieved his goal of moving closer to God - to the sublime. As theirlove grows stronger, Jean Valjean's garden in his heart grows more and more and becomes more radiant and he thus becomes more godly. In order to cultivate his own garden, Jean Valjean must work throughout his life for good. When Jean Valjean leaves prison, society looks down upon him with disgust, while he looks up at it with hatred and vengeance. As Jean Valjean begins to care for Cosette, he "felt fatherhood sprouting and growing within him more and more" (Hugo 879). Labor keeps of free from three of the greatest evils; boredom, vice, and need" (Voltaire 865-7). Cosette's love and the promise to the bishop save Jean Valjean's soul. This is the beginning of Jean Valjean's emotional cultivation of the garden. A mentor-pupil relationship is mirrored between Jean Valjean and the Bishop of Digne and between Candide and Martin. It is this fear that keeps him from returning evil. Before a literary character can choose to live for goodness and virtuousness, he usually meets a mentor character, who teaches him about the world and its inhabitants.
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Acceptance Essays
