A Divided Candide

This past week, in class, we discussed the various facets that are pervasive throughout Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. The political, social and moral undertones of the show created different opinions on how people thought Candide should be artistically represented. One person preferred the Parisian version of Candide because it really brought out the sobering intensions of Voltaire’s writing, which were less than optimistic. The Parisian version was a juxtaposition of controversial events of the present and controversial events of the past, which only made the historical truths behind Candide even more biting and raw to modern day viewers. Conversely, another person related with the Kristen Chenoweth version because of the optimistic irony highlighted the deep-rooted issues with humor and sarcasm.

I think one reason for these contrasting views of Candide can be linked to Bernstein who, like Candide, was struggling, socially, politically, morally and domestically. The show ubiquitously makes references to Communist and Capitalist views and it scoffs at sexuality, race and religion. The show is always presenting a dichotomy: Jewish versus Christian, Communist versus Capitalist, straight versus gay, and just versus unjust. Interestingly enough, these are some of the exact issues that tormented Bernstein throughout his life. These struggles that Bernstein experienced are prevalent in Candide, who is continually searching for his “utopia,” yet when he is faced with pernicious obstacles, he remains positive. The ambivalence of the ending number, “Make Our Garden Grow,” symbolizes Bernstein’s and/or Candide’s conflicting world’s merging into “the best of all possible worlds.” I realize that quote is viewed as a satirical statement referring to McCarthyism, but I think that it can have another meaning as well. It’s not purely communist or capitalist views that prevail in the last song; it’s about finding balance and good in an unjust world. Bernstein realized that in an ideal world everyone helps one another, but individual expression and growth must not be compromised. He also toys with the idea of a perfect world as being unfulfilling. For instance, in the El Dorado scene, both Candide and Pauquette were living in peaceful harmony, yet both of them were experiencing an inner void. I think that void is the perfection of the imperfections that life already provides.

“Make Our Garden Grow,” symbolizes more than political views, it heightens our awareness that we, as humans, need to be responsible to social and moral change. Most of all, the song advocates working together and compromise. In order to find peace, we need to find a way to live together, whether it’s being a capitalist, communist, Jewish, Christian, black or white. Candide brings out human differences throughout the show until the end, when all that matters are the similarities that we share. As a concluding thought, I think Bernstein’s views are ambivalent thanks to the fact that he himself was unable to describe his ideal world, but he did know one thing: the world is not “sugar cake,” but sometimes you are able to get a taste of what it could be.