Why does the Ancient Mariner really kill the Albatross?

When I was given this question I was told it was a trick question.. So what I feel the answer is may be totally obvious and NOT the real answer.. I feel like it's right, but whenever someone tells you something is a trick question you obviously second guess yourself.. So here goes nothing.

I feel the Mariner kills the Albatross because it's more of a symbol for the wind. When we first meet the albatross, it's referred to as a good luck charm to the sailors. But soon after it takes post, the winds stop hitting. Feeling like it's the albatross's fault, the Mariner shoots the albatross. I feel like although an emotional moment for the Mariner, it's not the most significant thing that happened. I think his consequences are much more severe. He drifts from the belief that "all creatures great and small, the lord God created them all" so he suffers the consequences of his animal cruelty.

Any other thoughts? After all, it is a trick question.

The Mariner's salvation

In the story, the Mariner recalls his tale to the best man of a wedding. The Mariner is on a ship and the crew spots an albatross through the fog. The albatross is said to be a good omen so the crew is happy and welcomes the bird. The albatross follows the ship for days until the Mariner shoots it with his crossbow. The shipmates are angered so they take the body and wrap it around his neck as penence. The Mariner doesn't say why he shoots the bird. " 'God save thee, ancient Mariner! From the fiends, that plague thee thus! - Why look'st thou so?'- With my cross-bow I shot the Albatross."

A spirit then follows the ship and a curse decsends on them. All of the crew drop dead except the Mariner. He feels lonliness and fixedness on the moon and the stars. Then he feels his soul refreshed. What is the Mariner's salvation and what absolves him of his sins? Why do you think he killed the Albatross?

How The Rime of the Ancient Mariner relates to class

I feel that The Rime of the Ancient Mariner relates to Rousseau's second impulse: compassion, don't kill for fun. I believe the Mariner killed the albatross for fun and he learned his lesson the hard way. He had to watch other innocent men die while he lived for the crime that he committed. It wasn't until this stanza that he learned that everything is beautiful and there is no need to kill something for his own pleasure.

O happy living things! no tongue
Thier beauty might declare:
A spring of love gushed from my heart,
And I blessed them unaware:
Sure my kind saint took pity on me,
And I blessed them unaware.

Rousseau believes the world belonged to everyone including nature in which the Mariner interrupted. Also Voltaire believes human nature isn't perfect.In which we should not interrupt. What do you guys think?
-Courtney Lynch

Voltaire in Business Ethics and Society

I was helping a friend in their business ethics class; when talking about the ethics of derivatives and transparency (a management aim to understand risk) I ran across this quote:

"Candide is naive, but his transparency is seen by Voltaire as virtuous." - Justin Welby

I thought that this was an interesting quote to come across in a business book, but I also found it extremely true. What do you guys think about this quote? Transparency is a virtue.

Maddi Park

Candide and the new world

Candide is an extension of Voltaire in spirit, the book is all about how Voltaire would react if these things happened to him and what he thinks about these situations happening around his life. So what is Voltaire trying to say to us by having Candide escape to South America?

My conclusion is that in the 1750’s the European way of life was in chaos. The Seven years war was taking place, the enlightenment was also in full gear. It was a bridge between two eras of time. So with the turmoil brewing away Voltaire might have wished he left Europe for the new world. Thus he sent Candide there to tell people the stability of the old world is changing so you should get out now before is collapses and if something bad emerges you will be a whole world away.

What do you guys thinks about why he left, and do you also think that Candide is the blade in Voltaire's hand? He published most of his works for the nobles of Europe. Was he trying to tell them something with this book?

Pococurante; A noble, (bored) Venetian.

It seems as though Pococurante has everything imaginable. From elegant gardens, laid out and ornamented with beautiful marble statues, to neatly dressed pretty girls whom Pococurante takes to bed. As well as high price paintings, concerts taking place in his own home, and a library shelved with thousands of books.

None of the above makes him happy. He says things like..
"I am getting tired of these two girls as well"
"This noise.. utterly disgusts me."
"Neither I nor anyone else in Italy can take pleasure in these sorry extravagances."

What is keeping this man here? He gets extremely bored of everything so quickly. Voltaire points out that he is a man of sixty. Do you think because of his age he has seen so much greatness in his life and now nothing can please him? Maybe he has been like this his whole life? He has a lot of money.. and money can only buy so much. It is definitely not buying the Count happiness.

Then what does this man have to live for?

"I say what I think, and care little whether others agree with me." - Pococurante.

Free Will

"Do you think," said Martin, "that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they could find them?"
"Of course I do," said Candide.
"Well," said Martin, "if hawks have always had the same character, why should you suppose that men have changed theirs?"
"Oh, but there's a great difference," said Candide, "for Free Will..."

Free will is literally defined as the power of making free choices that are unconstrained by external circumstances. It is evident that Martin does not believe in free will. He finds no distinction between animals and humans. Martins pessimistic outlook shows that he has always seen the evil in man rather than the good. However Candide believes that what keeps animals and humans separate is free will. A mans ability to make his own decisions and decide his own fate.

So if humans posses the power of free will, then why, throughout Candide, does Voltaire provide the reoccurring theme of an evil man? In comparison, Voltaire shows his utopia through Eldorado. Why is the free will of the people different and how has that made their society different?

Lastly, I think Voltaire specifically brings in free will because it is ultimately related to the conclusion of the book. "we must go and work in the garden." If men came together and used their free will to work on the common good of the society rather than their individual fulfillment, progress in the "garden" would be much more extreme and rapid. But can another change someones free will?

For Better or Worse?

Rousseau says that "...the instant [people] began to stand in need of eachother's assistance; from the moment in which it appeared adventageous for any one man to posses the quantity of provisions nessecary for two, all equality dissapeared" (14, Communist Manifesto and other Revolutionary Writings).

Rousseau makes the argument that the more humanity develops, and advances itself, the worse off we become. We created ideas of property, which leads to power and greed. We developed pride, which harbors jealously, and anger. Rousseau continues to say that as our societies developed, mainly because of these constructs, our problems perpetually became greater. Voltaire also satires this in Candide, when he says "...things cannot be other than they are...everything is made for the best purpose"(20, Candide).

The question i pose is, are we, as a people, heading in the right direction? Is everything really for the best? At first this seems like a very simple question, but think about this; A statistic said that cavemen only spent a few hours a day gathering food. Think of all the time you spend at work, in class, driving, and staying up late doing homework, waking up early... Then ask yourself again. Rousseau's point can be seen as easily as it can be argued against.

So what do you think?

Policy by Voltaire

"No man, by his own individual care and exertion, can secure himself from evil; he requires assistance" Voltaire.

I chose this sentence because i believe just that. Although this may not be what Voltaire is saying I believe that people can only get by so far by themselves and that they need the people around them to help them out. Some people may believe that by blocking out the world and secluding themselves they will do just fine. I think that with a little help from friends or even people just willing to lend a hand you can go a long way.