A significant example of Voltaire’s philosophical prose was the story “The Huron” written in 1767. Here the author made a big step forward along the path of bringing literature closer to modernity.
Voltaire judges feudal France from the standpoint of an enlightened mind, from the point of view of a person not spoiled by civilization. The idea of the hostility of feudal relations to humans was characteristic of philosophical narratives during this time, and in “The Huron” these natural feelings were brought to a logical limit.
The story is not built on the collision of characters. At the center of it is the conflict between the Huron-Indian (Frenchman by birth) and the incomprehensible circumstances of European life that are hostile to him. Feudal reality gradually reveals its inhuman essence. The simple-minded hero gets into a comic position because of the violation of all kinds of social conventions, which are unknown for him.
However, the situation gradually changes. The protagonist becomes increasingly acquainted with feudal France. Innocent St. Yves is imprisoned in a convent. The hero himself, who went to the royal court, falls into the Bastille. From a comic figure he turns into a tragic one. All the faults of the Huron consist in expressing sympathy to the Huguenots. Voltaire strikes at Catholic fanaticism.
To rescue the Innocent from prison, St. Yves sacrifices her honor. Characteristically, alien to moral prejudices, the Huron does not consider his bride guilty because she decided to take this step in the name of love.
The Huron changes in the process of narration. However, the changes do not concern his character (from the beginning to the end, he remains the same in moral and psychological terms), but some forms of his consciousness. It is enriched. As a result of the collision with society, the Huron becomes more and more enlightened. Conversations with the prisoner of the Bastille, Jansenist Gordon, contributed to his intellectual development. The Huron not only quickly mastered all the subtleties of theology, but subjected him to destructive criticism with the help of the simplest logical techniques.
Voltaire approaches the evaluation of all phenomena of reality from the point of view of the interests of an individual. His position is clearly expressed when the Huron in his discourse relates to the historical past. He began to read historical books, but they saddened him.
The world seemed to him too angry and pitiful. In fact, history is nothing but a picture of crimes and misfortunes—a crowd of people, innocent and meek, invariably lost in obscurity on a vast stage.
