Perfect City for Perfect People

As I am beginning to read Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino  I can't help but notice the thorough descriptions of each city. Calvino touches each one of your senses in his descriptions and before you know it, you are trapped in a world of description. Each time a new city is introduced the descriptions allow me to imagine the perfect scenario of this city and feel almost as if I belong to it, as if I am trapped in it.

I am not sure if this feeling of being trapped is positive or negative in the case of the book. I say this because the city's seem as if they were meant to grab hold of you and in a way force their citizens to stay there, just as if they were a utopia in which you could either adapt, be joyous or at least fake contentment, or be extinguished by it. Until now, it seems almost as if you had no other choice than to accept the city you were placed in or born in. There was one specific phrase that made me feel this feeling of imprisonment, on page 12: "The city appears to you as a whole where no desire is lost and of which you are a part, and since it enjoys everything you do not enjoy, you can do nothing but inhabit this desire and be content." This description is employed as Calvino introduces Anastasia to us, a city that can be both "malignant and benign."


Calvino uses personification as he describes most of the cities. This technique is definitely well employed as it adds that certain fascination and in a way spookiness to each of the cities. With each phrase, Calvino grasps the attention of the reader more and more until he is drowning in a sea of powerful details.

Generosity and Survival

In chapter three of The Selfish Gene we learn that genes benefit from assisting their host. Richard Dawkins states that Genes who help their host are prone to survive. Meanwhile, the odds of survival of genes that choose not to assist their host are extremely low. With this, we can conclude that the body may only function as a whole, especially when it comes to genes.

Another fact stated by Dawkins in the chapter that although logical, continues to surprise me is that there is an uncountable number of plants, animals, and viruses. We probably have not discovered half of the viruses that affect humans and animals daily, which is shocking and terrifying. Will we ever acknowledge all of these viruses? How many living creatures will be killed by them before these viruses are discovered and cured?

We live in a society in which we no longer take our time to appreciate nature and the animals surrounding us. In fact, we have destroyed the habitat of these animals and have pushed them into endangered species lists, etc. It is important for us to understand that everything that we do affects most of these species and that if we do nothing to prevent the harming of the environment we will extinguish species we have not even discovered or acknowledged.

Could humans be similar to genes? If we do not assist animals and other living things in our surroundings will we have the risk of extinction?

Stability or Nothing?

            In the second chapter of The Selfish Gene we can see the importance of stability in life. Dawkins explains Darwin's theory of natural selection and opens a new perspective on the theory of evolution. Then, Dawkins goes into how the simplest forms of lives were created with atoms that required stability to survive. He furthermore explains that proteins are composed of amino acids, proving that complex molecules and other biological compounds develop from the simplest units.

            As I was reading, I realized how both of these biological facts are essential to a person psychologically as well. Not only because a malfunction in the human body biologically will most likely affect the brain, but also due to the fact that stability is essential to maintaining emotional balance and reaching success. How can one expect to taste victory when aspects of one's life are not in equilibrium?

            

           The fact of complex life forms forming from simple ones also relates psychologically to us. This is because we must understand that processes are one step at a time; you always start out small and grow from that. After all, how can you expect to understand engineering when you don't even know the basics of physics? 

The theory of evolution requires an understanding of both these ideas, as stability and development are basic biological factors. This is precisely why Dawkins goes into the subjects as an introduction to the topic. With the last sentence of chapter two we may predict that later on we are likely to learn about the evolution of humans in detail: "They have come a long way, those replicators. Now they go by the name of genes, and we are their survival machines." (pg. 20)  

All Is For the Worst

'For my part, Sir,' replied the scholar, 'I think nothing of the sort. I find that all goes wrong with us, and that no one knows his place in society or his proper employment.' (pg. 104)

Candide ends up in a supper, surrounded by nobles and wealthy people. Here, he meets a gentleman who seems to be educated philosophically. Candide mentions Dr. Pangloss' ideas and asks this man what his opinion is on the subject. This man believes the complete opposite and thinks that absolutely everything is wrong with the world and humans.

Here, Voltaire presents two complete different philosophies that are both equally as absurd. However, these two philosophies are exactly what we think once we have accomplished something or have failed at doing so. When we do succeed we automatically think, "things aren't at all bad" or "I could not be any happier." These are definitely broad statements, but they demonstrate that our perspective of life depends on our current situation.

It is highly unlikely for someone to believe that life is completely fair and that everything is for the best when they are parched, homeless, and weak. In this scenario the person is probably going to frown upon society and our way of living. Therefore, those who live happily may agree with Pangloss' ideas more than those who strive to survive.

In life things are not all for the worst or for the best at all. We cannot say that humans are naturally evil because there is not one single person that is going to be "evil" according to everyone. In general, everyone has a little bit of everything and should not be stereotyped under one characteristic. It is easy for us to judge society and conclude that people are naturally good or evil, but we have to focus more on what we aport to it. In other words, be the change and don't criticize how others act. If you disagree with something you should definitely make your point by trying to fight against it.

Hundreds Die While Sheep Survives

After Candide and Cacambo part, Candide is able to convince a man into letting him board his ship. As he is heading towards his destination, the ship crosses the path of two  other ships that are at war. There is one French ship that is shooting cannons at the other and manages to sink it. As the ship is sinking, Candide observes men aboard that begin to stretch their arms toward heaven. All of them drown. Seconds after, Candide leans over the ship and notices that one of his sheep has survived and is know swimming towards him. How ironic. 

Men that have been praying to survive all die but a sheep that does not even express itself properly manages to swim aboard the ship. This shows that those who are in any way religious are doomed and will most likely die. In my opinion, Voltaire is not saying "If you pray, you die" but he is rather demonstrating that God cannot guarantee safety to you, no matter how much you pray. Everyone is at risk in life, which is just a part of living. Instead of stretching their arms towards Heaven, these men should have been searching for something to help them survive. Sure, miracles do occur (rarely), but the truth is that in life you have to work for what you want and you can't just wait for it to be "miraculously" handed to you. 

This is definitely a crude message as are many others in this book, but it is unfortunately true. Some people waste an eternity asking for things but they never act. They don't realize that the odds of them reaching a goal or even just getting something they desire are extremely low if they don't make an effort. We tend to ask ourselves why can he/she achieve that and I can't? We even think that at times life can be unfair, but the person who won probably did try harder than you, which is hard to face/admit. However, if we do choose to accept this, we can just try harder next time to reach our goal. There are times in which a decision that affected you might have been unfair, but this is not every time that you lose or miss out on something. In these cases, you just have to move on.      

Purpose of God

'We never pray,' said this good and venerable man; 'we have nothing to ask of God, since He has given us everything we need. But we thank him unceasingly.' (pg. 79) 

Candide and his servant arrive at Eldorado where they meet a wise old man who tells them this. Here, we can see the honesty and gratitude of this old man. This man does not probably live in the best conditions, due to the poverty of the village. However, he still has the gratitude to wake up every morning and thank God for everything that has been given to him. 

This is one of the faults that we have today. We don't focus on everything that we have and aren't thankful for it. Instead, we want more. We only look for God once need help or want something, but never to simply express thankfulness. Sure, there are those who don't believe in God, but this doesn't mean that they should not appreciate everything that they have. Without gratitude, we are never fulfilled. We have become greedy and insecure due to this lack of gratitude. 

Many of us observe others and think: Why can't I have that life? If I did, I would be so much happier. Yet, we don't realize all that we have. There are many things that go wrong with life, but so many others that are near to perfect. At times, we think that we are the unluckiest person alive or that things couldn't possibly be worse, but there are so many people that have it much worse than you. So, instead of desiring another's life, accept and treasure your own. And if you simply can't then make an effort to change your life, but don't for one instance think that you are needy or unlucky because truth is, you probably aren't. 

Monkeys For Priests

To save Lady Cunegonde, Candide kills two priests. He then runs into his former master, the sibling of his lover, and shares with him the idea of marrying this man's sister. Then, the Colonel gets irritated, insults Candide, and is killed. Candide therefore must cross the frontier to escape and sees that two monkeys are biting two girls' buttocks. Candide apparently has no other option but to shoot the monkeys and states that he has saved the girls, which compensates for the killing of the two previous priests.   

Here, Voltaire is clearly criticizing the church as an institution by saying that killing two monkeys is basically the same as killing two priests. Monkeys have always had the reputation of being ridiculous, although they are the most similar animals to humans. Voltaire is demonstrating that priests and members of the church are full of nonsense and absurdity. This was a common belief in the eighteenth century, as the church was challenged by reason. 

It is not right to kill anyone and is even worse to kill three people and then two animals. This is all part of the absurdity and irony of Candide.  If we were to take the book literally, we would not perceive Voltaire's criticism of society and especially of the religious institution. Another aspect of the church that Candide touches is the possession of land: 

"The reverend fathers own the whole lot, and the people own nothing: that's what I call a masterpiece of reason and justice." (pg. 62) 

The Church promoted justice and equality, which was completely hypocritical. The institution owned the great majority of the land while many were left homeless. Sure, it did talk about helping the poor, but what was it doing itself? During this period, the church was extremely corrupt and was more worried about increasing it's own fortune than about helping others. Many did not realize this and let themselves be manipulated by the institution. Thankfully, at some time the lands were stripped away from it and were distributed amongst the people. Although, much of the land was given to the already rich nobles, which also goes with Voltaire's belief of life not being just.