Candide is a novel by Voltaire where the main character is Candide follow by Cunegonde, the daughter of a German baron, who acts as Candide’s benefactor until he discovers Candide’s love for his daughter. From that moment Candide was kicked out from the castle and had to travel a lot to save his life.

This novel is so fascinating, not only because talk about love but because all those characters give a moral to people’s life. For example, one of the characters that grabbed my attention was the old women because even though she had to face a lot of obstacles she realized that life was better than death and it was ridiculous to try to suicide herself and run from problems.” –With great pain, I untangled myself  from this vast heap of bleeding bodies and dragged myself under  a great orange tree by a neighboring  brook, where I collapsed, from terror, exhaustion, horror, despair, and hunger.”(371) this old woman had to face too many things at the same time, not only that she  had to be part all of misfortunes but also she had to be part of all the massacre made by that time. This woman had to work as slave, was raped and also had to presence the death of her mom. This woman is so admirable because with that miserable life that she was living a weak person would committed a suicide. However, she showed that sometimes in life people have to be strong and leave problems away. As Pangloss would say “everything is for the best” in other words, those bad and horrible circumstances gave her experience and strength to guide people like Candide and Cunegonde.

Characters like Candide and Cunegonde are examples of how people have to fight for what they want, Candide had to confront millions of obstacles to get to the place his princess was. At the end Candide could found his love and the old women who as a real women who was part of his journey. –well, are still madly in love with Miss Cunegonde of Thunder-Ten-Tronckh? Yes, ma’am, replied Candide” (395) he showed that his love was real for miss Cunegonde and that all the sacrifices he was making was because he wanted to be with the love of his life.

The story of Candid is best described as a roller coaster of events. Throughout the story there were ups and downs, such as storms, earthquakes, forced to join the burglar, reuniting with Cunegonde, free sheep and riches in Eldorado, and finding out Pangloss is still alive. The passage that most interested me was the ending, when Candide finally reunites with Cunegonde, after the long journey he has been through. I found this scene interesting because it was very ironic. Throughout Candid’s journey, he was telling everyone he met how beautiful his lover, Cunegonde was, and he is willing to pay any price to reunite with her. When Candid reunites with Cunegonde, the first thing he realizes is her appearance. He calls her ugly, admitting he’s losing interest in her, and says he doesn’t want to marry her anymore.

This scene is also ironic because it shows the consequences of enlightenment. In the kingdom of Thunder-Ten-Tronckh, Pangloss is considered “the oracle of the household.” (Voltaire, 355) Growing up, Candid listened to Pangloss’ lessons and believed that everything happens for a reason, and it will end up leading to the greater good. Throughout Candid’s journey, he faced a series of unfortunate events, and each time he overcame them, he would tell himself, if Master Pangloss was here, he would say this will lead to a good result. When Candid met Martin, who was also considered a wise philosopher, Martin told Candid the complete opposite. Martin believed that the world is evil, and there will be no happy ending. Candid, who is blinded by Pangloss’ philosophy, ignores what Martin says, which results in an ending full of disappointment. Candid ends up marrying the no longer pretty Cunegonde, and everyone works hard for the rest of their lives on their farm.

Candide’s adventure definitely reflects the reality of the world. After Candide was expelled from the castle, he had experienced many tragedies and saw the different sides of the world. He saw the cruelty of war and the brutality of human nature. Candide finally realized that his belief was wrong. One of the most crucial scene is in chapter 6 when Candide saw Pangloss was hanged in front of him. Candide said “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others like?”(pg. 364) At this point, Candide questioned the philosophy of optimism. He started to think about life in his ways instead of following Pangloss’ teaching. After he experienced the death of Jacques and Pangloss, Candide found out that the world is not what he and Pangloss thought of. This scene is a very important turning point which changes Candide’s idea of the world.

I feel Candide and the main character, Orgon in Tartuffe are very similar. They are both naïve and lack of their own minds. Candide was influenced by Doctor Pangloss’ philosophy and Orgon was affected by the hypocrite, Tartuffe. Both Candide and Orgon blindly followed the wrong person and hardly try to question their teachings. It is obvious that Candide and Orgon were both misguided. However, both characters eventually found out the truth after they encountered various misfortunes.

Overall, this novel is very interesting and meaningful. Voltaire depict a story of a poor man, Candide in order to reflect the flaws of optimism. Candide was living in his utopia world at first. However, it is impossible to use the philosophy to explain everything that Candide has experienced after he left the castle. I believe we should be optimistic about life but everything has a limit. If we are being too optimistic about everything, then we will lose many chances to improve our lives. Life is controlled by ourselves. It is important to work hard to achieve your dream instead of waiting for all the great things happen.

Reading the first few chapters of Candide, I immediately thought of our discussions in class on duty vs desire. Candide’s life in the beginning was a desirable one. He lived in a beautiful castle with beautiful people and no worries. However, he had a desire to be with Cunegonde when his duty is to remain loyal to the family. The problem was that Cunegonde had the blood of “pure” royalty and Candide was not. One day he allowed his desire to overcome his duty and in front of everyone at the dinner table, he kissed Cunegonde. Although, both had the desire to be with one another, the family did not feel the same. At that moment, the king took Candide and literally kicked him out of the castle. Candide was banished and so began his fortunes and misfortunes.

All that has happened in the story was do to the fact that he let his emotions get the best of him. However, what intrigued me was that he continued to allow his desires to get the best of him. In every situation in the story he chose desire no matter how bad or good the situation had become. From what I’ve read so far, this continued to occur. However, there was a scene that had stricken me the most that I felt was an important turn in the story. In chapter 17, Candide and Cacambo stumbled upon the country of Eldorado. This place seemed to be a utopia and yet Candide could not imagine staying there without Cunegonde by his side. In chapter 18, Candide asked the king of Eldorado to provide him a way out of Eldorado and the king thought him as a fool. However, the king did provide Candide and Cacambo with what ever they needed. This scene provided the reader to get a sense of how strong Candide’s desire for Cunegonde was. That his love blinded him of everything, even his own stability. To leave a “perfect” place like Eldorado after all the things Candide had been through, you’d have to be stupid.

The scene that I will be responding to is the when Jacques tries to save the sailor but actually falls into the water. At this moment, Candide wants to save Jacques but Pangloss responds by saying “The bay of Libson had been formed expressly for this Anabaptist to drown in (362).”

This quote by Pangloss strikes me the most because my initial reaction was that this was ridiculous. I thought, how could the bay be made entirely for Jacques to drown in, if there was a bay created there already to get travelers to Libson. Also, how can this bay be made entirely for Jacques to drown in, if everyone other passenger on the ship was perished as well. It also strikes me at how quickly they decided to let Jacques drown to his death, even after Jacques took both Candide and Pangloss in when they had nothing.

This moment seems to be important because it shows how much Candide relies on Pangloss’s teachings from the beginning of the story till the end. Even though Candide knows how much he owes Jacques for taking him in, caring for him and getting him back on his feet when everyone else in Holland treated him cruelly when he first got there, he still choose to follow Pangloss’s teachings instead of what his heart believed. It seems as if Candide does not always have control of himself, but must rely on Pangloss himself or his teachings to guide him through his life.

This moment relates to the rest of text because continuously, throughout the text when Candide is alone and believes that Pangloss is dead, he would always mention Pangloss. For example, “If Pangloss was had not been hanged, he would give us good advice in this hour of need, for he was a great philosopher (367)” or “That Pangloss would have be hard put to prove his system. I wish he were here (388).” These two quotes are examples of how even when Pangloss is not besides Candide, Pangloss’s teachings is relevant throughout. It also shows that Candide realizes how much he relied on Pangloss when he was by his side, that without him there, he still tries to think life him. When Candide is discussing with a scholar at Madame de Parolignac’s house, Candide brings up one of the teaching points of Pangloss starting “Troubles are just the shadows in a beautiful picture (395).” However, in this instance the scholar states that “Your hanged philopsher was joking. The shadows are horrible ugly blots (396).” This scene shows that Candide’s life revolved around what Pangloss has taught him and nothing else. Even after Candide and the scholar kept disputing over their differences, Candide is hesitant to agree with the scholar throughout their conversation.

Candide – Voltaire

Candide was a straight to the point story with very short chapters and Voltaire did not go with a lengthy introduction. By the end of chapter one, Candide is removed from his home by the Baron because he catches him giving his daughter an “innocent kiss.” After this scenario, Candide’s journey begins and he had experienced a crazy yet terrifying life filled with an abundance of emotions. Candide’s tutor, Pangloss, shared his philosophy that everything is done for the best in this world. Candide being an optimistic person has carried this mantra with him throughout his journey. The separation between him and Miss Cunégonde brings him to a dark melancholy state. He desires her more than anything in the world which is insane because of the amount of trouble he goes through for her. He has killed people for her like the Grand Inquisitor and the Jew named Don Isaachar. Miss Cunégonde was disturbed to see these two men killed by Candide.

Voltaire classified the role of women in this story to be quite dreadful. Women were raped, abused, and traded for countless times. The story of the old woman who was the daughter of the Pope suffered an account of calamities such as being enslaved and raped many times and experiencing half death laying on a “mountain of bleeding bodies.” Women had no power during this century of life and had to follow orders from an authority figure who had owned them.

My favorite character in this story would have to be Martin because he was very pessimistic and believed that nothing in the world is made for the best and often humans will torment each other. His statement was very much appropriate during this time period because of the wars and conflicts between countries and villages. There was always violence in every moment. Although Eldorado was a utopian society which proves his statement wrong but not everyone can live in this perfectly perfect place. It seems unreal and usually ends up as a disaster because of the abundance of happiness and wealth.

Voltaire made the ending an unhappy stagnant ending. Everyone was together in this farm and they worked hard to maintain it. Every character felt unhappy yet they needed to cultivate the garden in order to build their own satisfactions. Candide was unhappy with the money and luxury he has living with his beloved who is now unattractive and he is filled with misery. Choosing the path of desire has screwed him over and he realized that materialistic ideals do not last forever.

Many misfortunes take place around the world and we may experience these events sometime in our lives. The consequences of desire can lead to unhappiness which can be very difficult to  comprehend. Although the violence of the story’s time period does not compare to present day but we do have many social justice issues that are as brutal as the ones Voltaire has described. The story was a bit overwhelming to read because every sentence was intricate and complexed but it was overall very interesting.