Satire?

In class we started to read Candide by Voltaire. At first I felt a little scared to read it, because it is satire. It is something that I was never faced with before. As I started reading, it was difficult to understand when Voltaire was using elements of Satire, such as: irony, hyperbole, absurdity and the target. But as I started reading along I got the hang of it and enjoyed it because it was fun to see what would come up next. For example it was absurd that for there to be no more earthquakes the University of Coimbra said that they had to sacrifice people. Of course this wasn’t true, and right after the sacrificies there was an other earthquake. Also when Candide fainted in the barn, Pangloss spontaneously woke him up with sour vinegar that was lying there. Why would there be sour vinegar on a barn? That’s a pretty big coincidence.

The Hyperboles that I have found are weird but interesting. It makes it fun because as I am reading its something that stands out and it doesn’t let you daydream. For example, "Castle Thunder-ten-tronckh" pg 42 is not something we hear everyday. So when I read this I laughed because I found this name long and funny. 

Its cool to read something that I am not used to reading because this is a book that everything that is said cant be taken seriously. If you look at it as a literal work the book wouldn’t make sense but if you start playing with what the book is saying it starts to be fun because you don’t know what to expect. 

I love it when Voltaire starts using irony because it reminds me of my uncle, that there are times when what he says something you don’t know if what he’s saying is true or not. I remember that since I was a little kid every time he would say something it was ridiculous because I didn’t understand the meaning of what he wanted to say. As I started getting older I started to understand what was the meaning behind what he was saying, and I think that that is what is going to happen to me while reading this book. At first it was complicated to understand but as I am going through it I am getting the hang of it and hopefully at the end of the book ill be a pro at it. 

This book is like life, it’s always good to try out something new because we don’t know what to expect! Maybe I’ll like this book although it’s complicated to read and start reading more satire book, who knows! I guess I’ll have to wait and see until I finish it.