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Candide and Tylor
Candide
And
"Tylor"
Past, Present, and Future
The Rebirth of Candide
Throughout the course of history, it is not uncommon for certain key events and themes to repeat themselves. In order for humanity to stop from recommitting the atrocities of the past, they study them in the hopes that they can find a new insight that will help them from walking the dark path of their predecessors. In a similar light, it is a frequent occurrence for the writings of the past to be retold several times in order to draw upon certain aspects that have made the original piece so timeless. As such, five years ago, a television series entitled "The Irresponsible Captain Tylor" recaptured several of the nuances that had been presented centuries earlier in Voltaire's counter-culture opus, Candide Through the 26 episodes which made up the "Tylor" series, as well as the 9 episode original video animation series, the vignettes of Candide were reinterpreted, as well as several of the ideas which were being confronted at the time of the writing of Candide. Whether it be criticism of the military and war, the idea of the best of all possible worlds, or the vision of perfection that is El Dorado, in its futuristic space frontier setting, "Tylor" puts its on spin the ideas brought up in Candide by challenging its own idea of perfection and complacency, the atrocities of military life, and the best of all possible soldiers.
When Candide is thrust into the world by a kick in the pants, it is symbolic of him being thrust out into life and having to face a new world of possibilities and disasters. Similarly, the character of Tylor is quickly drafted into military service and shot into space. Both characters are unwillingly placed into the real world (such as it is) but neither has much say in the series of events which takes them through their course. While Candide is striving to find his lost love, Tylor is simply attempting to live until his military pension activates. As such, the first situation that both experience in the world is that of a war. While Candide becomes a soldier in the Bulgars, Tylor is given the commission of a ship and sent into battle unwillingly. Neither of the two asked to become soldiers, they were simply carried along by events that forced them into military service, much as the youth of all generations are. By a strange stroke of luck, both are portrayed as military geniuses within the context of there narratives. In the Bulgars, Candide was "regarded as a prodigy by his comrades" (Voltaire 522). Similarly, Tylor's incredible luck in battle leads for the commanders of the opposing army to see him as a military genius. In Episode 7: "A Gentalman's Word is his Bond," the opposing armed forces decide to let Tylor go based on the simple principle that he looks like an amazing officer. However, Candide is no way lucky in that he is seen as a deserter when he goes for a daily walk while Tylor proceeds on his journey by a series of lucky circumstances that often culminate in his achieving victory in any given situation.
Another striking similarity occurs in the character of Professor Pangalos in Candide and the character of Lt. Yamamoto in "Tylor." Pangalos belief that "Things cannot be otherwise than they are, for since everything is made to serve an end, everything necessarily serves the best end… [people] should say everything is for the best" (Voltaire 521) holds to the ideal of what is supposed to be the best of all possible worlds. Yamamoto holds a similar image of the best of all possible soldiers, one which does every action in perfect accordance with honor and duty. As expected, though, both characters are faced with several situations which contradict their beliefs. The character of Pangalos is met with several incidents which would lead one astray from the best of all possible worlds concept. He is lit on fire, beaten, given sexual diseases, and sold into slavery, however, he still holds to his belief that the world is the best it possibly could be (out of stubbornness). Similarly, Yamamoto is forced to rethink his idea of what the perfect soldier is by being forced to serve as Tylor's subordinate. Tylor is irresponsible, cowardly, and spends the majority of his time either drunk or fantasizing after some way of attaining one of the attractive officers on board his ship, the Soyokaze. While Yamamoto works hard and keeps to his duty, Tylor's luck in the face of adversity leads him to fame and prestige as both the enemy and even his own military begin to view him as the perfect soldier. However, be it out of stubbornness or some other force, Yamamoto holds true to his ideals, though he never receives any sort of reward for his dedication to duty. Just as Martin makes attacks on Pangalos philosophy, after Yamamoto fails in a mission he is assigned, he offers to do the honorable thing, to which his commander responds "Falling unto your sword won't do us any good." (Tylor OVA 6). This comment is a direct attack on the Hara-kiri that soldiers of past wars had committed when disgraced in battle. As is, both characters philosophies appear to be under seriously scrutiny through both narratives.
Another striking similarity is both narratives representations of the perfect society. In Candide, a society in which science is seen as more important then war, trinkets such as diamonds are seen as mere toys, and disease is never present is the embodiment of El Dorado. The El Dorado of Candide presents the perfect society, however, it manages to show that a person who is not born into such a perfect place could ever content themselves with living thus. Because of this, Candide decides to leave what would undoubtedly be a long and joyous life for the strife of the outside world.
Mirroring how Candide finds he is unable to live in the utopian El Dorado society, Tylor comes to realize that he cannot live in the perfect society presented by the Ralgon Empire. Unlike the earth that Tylor comes from which is divided by internal warring factions, over-population, greed, and violence, the Ralgon empire is a society of people who wish to simply live as one with nature. They have no material wealth, and only have an army due to the encroaching earthling military. Just as Candide was unable to live in the perfect society of El Dorado, Tylor begins to feel alienated from the people of the Ralgon and leaves them to return to his battleship. It is this shunning of the perfect societies in both texts that explore how a perfect society is impossible with the people who are alive at a certain time. The innate desires of humanity stop them form ever being able to be able to truly embrace a utopia, even when it is laid before them on a silver platter. Thus, much like the people in the societies from which they come, both Tylor and Candide shun the perfect worlds with which they are presented.
Another parallel in the two texts lies in how Candide eventually is capable of escaping the dangers which he has been presented with in his travels and Tylor is also capable to survive the war and return to Earth a hero. Both characters, though, begin to quickly realize the boredom that comes from safety. After eventually saving his love, rescuing his friends, and setting up a farm far away from danger, Candide is slowly led to realize how boring his life has become through the decisions he has made. His constant talks with Pangalos and Martin only work as a means of reinforcing the idea that the only life worth living, was a life in peril. The old woman who serves Cunegonde states it best when she says "I should like to know which is worse... experiencing, in a word, all the miseries through which we have passed-or else just sitting here and doing nothing?" (Voltaire 578).
After the war, Tylor returns to earth and is celebrated as a hero. He receives his commission from the military and is even given a post on Earth where they don't even mind that he is drunk the majority of the time and does no actual work. As time goes by, though, Tylor reflects on the war and a close friend who died and is lead into a deep depression. Despite having achieved what his one goal had been, he eventually finds that he needs more in his life. To stop living out in the world is a kind of death within itself.
However, Tylor and Candide differ in the way they decide to reconcile their situation. While Candide states one must "cultivate our garden." (Voltaire 580) Tylor holds to the idea that a person must do what makes them happy. In the final episodes of the series, Tylor says "Do what you want, the way you want to" (Tylor eps 22). Candide's idea that people must find joy in any activity with which they are presented seems to, in fact, be in direct contrast to the theory of Tylor that a person must live their lives to the fullest and not allow themselves to fall into complacency. While the resolutions may be different, they are both derived from the character growth of the protagonists as they overcame the adversities with which they were presented. As well, both series depict a certain philosophy for the way in which one should live their lives, be it struggling through the everyday and making an attempt to improve things as much as possible, or doing the things that a person sees as important and wishes to do in order to reach a higher level of fulfillment within their lives.
While "Tylor" does not work as a carbon copy of Candide, it does manage to emulate several of the ideas and concepts presented in Candide in a post-modern/futuristic perspective. The universal nature with which ideas such as the meaning of life, war, and the ideal of perfection present themselves in both texts work to show how certain issues may never be resolved, be it within the past, present, or future. As such, it appears that the ideas of Candide will continue to be addressed for centuries to come since all people have their own answers to the questions it presents. It is this constant readdressing of the questions of Candide that make it a timeless text, never old, but always modern.
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