The search for happiness is a never ending theme in the lives of all human beings in the world. Happiness is what many people aim for and they have a tendency of working towards its achievement all their lives. Some people have however considered this to be a futile attempt and that the optimism which human beings always have for the achievement of happiness will lead them to bitter disappointment. Others disagree stating that human happiness is achievable if they were to only take every event that happens in their lives positively and the optimism that comes from it will eventually lead them to what they have been aiming for, namely, happiness. One would be very tempted to agree with the latter because its view of happiness is very optimistic and therefore helps people view their lives in a more positive light. However, true and lasting happiness is unachievable for human beings because of our very nature, that is, we can never be satisfied with what we have and instead we always aim to achieve more. It is this nature which truly defines why human beings are completely incapable of achieving lasting happiness. In relation to this, we shall look at and compare two novels with a similar theme, Candide by Voltaire, and Rasselas by Samuel Johnson.
Rasselas is the story of an Ethiopian prince who questions his life of privilege and along with his sister, her maid and an old wise man, Imlac, embarks on a journey of self discovery. He considered the life of a prince to be like a prison where his every wish or desire was fulfilled without his having to do anything about it. His desire in escaping his privileged life was to view how common people lived their lives and to decide for himself the kind of life which best suited him and which he wanted to live. His journey takes him through several adventures and in these, he comes to learn a simple truth, that the perfect life is impossible to achieve and that a search for it must continue indefinitely. When he and his companions arrive in Cairo, Rasselas is at first dazzled by the people of this city but this comes to an abrupt end when he realizes that not a single one of them enjoys a life of happiness. Despite their grand appearance on the outside, the people of Cairo are completely the opposite on the inside, because they are capable of violence, madness, and being lonely. The novel ends with the companions’ decision to abruptly end their journey and return to Abyssinia.
Voltaire’s Candide is also a story about the pursuit of happiness by the main character, Candide. Candide is the bastard child of the sister of a Westphalian baron who is in love with Cunegonde, the baron’s daughter. A time comes when these two are caught kissing and Candide is thrown out of the baron’s castle. Candide, like Rasselas, is a very optimistic person and he also undertakes a journey in pursuit of happiness along with some companions who include Pangloss and Jacques. His journeys take him all over the world, from Portugal to the Americas, to the Far East and finally back to Europe. This journey however does not reveal to Candide the elusive happiness for which he has been seeking. Instead, it reveals to him the true extent of human nature, the brutality, coercion, and pure evil which exists in many people. It is at this point that Candide realizes that lasting happiness among human beings is unachievable no matter for how long they try to seek it.
One will find many similarities between Candide and Rasselas the most paramount of which is the fact that both of them are trying to find lasting happiness in their lives. Both of these characters are from very privileged backgrounds despite the fact that Candide is an illegitimate child. Furthermore, these characters choose o make journeys of self discovery and in this attempt; they come across the worst part of human nature which contributes to the destruction of their very optimistic nature. Not only does this happen, but they both come to realize the futility of their quest and instead decide to settle down and live the lives which they were meant to live. Candide, for a part of his travels, is accompanied by Pangloss, who is ever the optimist and often encourages Candide to remain optimistic about his prospects whenever the latter seems to be losing his optimism. Pangloss’s optimism may be what encourages Candide to make his journey in pursuit of lasting happiness with Cunegonde. In contrast, Rasselas is accompanied by the wise Imlac, who has a very pessimistic view of the world. Imlac does his best to warn his prince that the world is not as perfect as he may think and that he should not put too much faith in human nature. After their time in Cairo, Rasselas comes to realize that Imlac was right and that it is impossible to find any lasting happiness in the world. Eventually, both Rasselas and Candide accept the situations which life has placed upon them.
In conclusion, it can be said that it is indeed impossible for one to achieve lasting happiness due to human nature. As seen in the novels Rasselas and Candide, human beings are so full of cruelty and other vices which hinder them, and those whose lives they affect, to live happily. Furthermore, human beings are never really satisfied with what they have – however great it is – and instead, they set other goals which they have yet to achieve, for themselves. It is this greed for things which they do not have which keeps people from achieving true happiness because it does not allow them to really appreciate what they have and to realize that they can truly be happy with them. The realization that we can indeed be happy with what we have, however little, will ensure that people are more appreciative of their lives and that they do not make futile attempts to achieve the unachievable.