Great Works of Literature II

The first thing that came to my mind after finishing this piece was how can so many things happen to so many people all at the same time? The misery that each character went through was quite astonishing. Each of the characters went through many different situations which should have broken their spirits but didn’t because they each had sufficent reason to live. The protagonist Candide shocked me in many ways, going from an innocent boy, to a murderer, to being tortured several times, and then finally fining his own peace. This piece reminded me of a mixture of Robin Hood Men in Tights and the Three Musketeers.  For example, after Candide and Cacambo leave El Dorado with all their riches they give money to people that are in dire need of it and paid off ransoms.  I was reminded of the Three Musketeers when Candide fought and murdered the Jew, the Grand Inquisitor, and almost killed the brother of Cunegonde.  He would fight these men for who he thought was the love of his life.  One thing that I didn’t like at all was in chapter 29 when Candide finally sees Cunegonde after going through so many things he simply doesn’t want her anymore just because she is the gorgeous woman he had known her to be from before.  Although I was glad to see that in the conclusion when Candide met the Turk and Candide’s thoughts on life changed once again. The Turk told Candide that “work keeps us from three great evils, boredom, vice, and poverty” (580) and when he was told this Candide and all his friends lived a much happier life realizing that “we must cultivate our garden” (580).  So far this has been one of my favorite stories that we have read even though we haven’t read that many. What I was able to take from this piece was that that money cannot buy happiness, beauty doesn’t last forever, and it’s the simple things in life that make people happy.