Jennifer Joyce
Stories (2/0)
Five Octobers
October marks five years since leaving my abuser. Five years since finding my value and my worth. Five years since saving my life. Time has worn down the pain and has taught me forgiveness, but the memories are still there. As I celebrate the anniversary of my freedom this month, and as I celebrate the love I've found with my lovely husband, I find myself faced with reminders of the words, of the bruises, of the fear. Most recently, I find myself weighed down with the public discourse around the sexual assault allegations against Brett Kavanaugh.
By Jennifer Joyce5 years ago in Humans
Cultivating a Garden in Candide and Huck Finn
Since the Enlightenment period, Voltaire’s Candide, or Optimism, has served as the basis for many works of literature. The concept of the protagonist’s quest has been capitalized over the years in countless pieces of film and literature, including in Mark Twain’s classic novel, Huckleberry Finn. Comparing the works of Voltaire and Twain, similarities between the main characters and their journeys arise, adding to the common satirical themes on morality and human suffering, which prove to be ever-present throughout each plot. The journeys of both young Candide and young Huck Finn serve a purpose far greater than either naïve character could realize, underlining these overarching themes through each character’s developing morality. While originating from different backgrounds, Candide from a somewhat privileged class in Westphalia and Huck from the very bottom of the social ladder in the antebellum South, both characters demonstrate a similar sense of naïveté about the world. Candide is taught by the family oracle, Pangloss, that this “is the best of all possible worlds” (Voltaire, 1). For Huck, he lives life oblivious of the issues in his society and, enjoying “laying off comfortable all day” (Twain, 6). In contrast to Candide, Huck recognizes some of the bad things in his life, such as his alcoholic father, and makes an active decision to begin his quest down the Mississippi River. In Candide’s case, coincidence seems to play a larger role at the beginning of his quest, as he gets tricked into the military and cannot “for the soul of him conceive how he came to be a hero” (Voltaire, 2).
By Jennifer Joyce5 years ago in Geeks