Candide

Francois Marie Arouet Voltaire

Candide was raised in the castle of the Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh is the German country of Westphalia. The priest, Mastor Pangloss, taught that every thing that happens has happened to the ultimate good. Candide has embraced Pangloss' philosophy. Life has been good in the Baron's castle. When the Baron catches Candide kissing his daughter, Miss Cunegund, he literally kicks Candide out of the castle.

Candide's optimism takes him down the road where he is pressed into the Bulgarian army. He becomes a foot soldier, whipped and sent into battles to kill the Abares. He walks away during a battle. On his trip he runs into Pangloss, now a refugee who hasn't lost his optimism despite the story he tells of Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh. The Baron's castle was overrun by soldiers, Miss Cunegund ravished, the Baron and his wife killed and quartered, and Miss Cunegund and her brother left for dead. Pangloss was barely able to escape.

Pangloss and Candide travel together. When they meet an Inquisitor their faith is questioned. Their beliefs don't match the Inquisitor's. Pangloss is hanged and Candide punished. Candide gets away. The next person he recognizes is Miss Cunegund. She hasn't died, but is now the mistress of two men who share her. Candide swears to rescue her because he himself loves her. When he kills more men in self defense, they are forced to flee to South America. Through all this, Candide retains his optimism and beliefs in Pangloss' teachings.

Candide's travails continue. If something can go wrong, short of being killed, it happens to Candide. Yet he knows everything happens the way it does because it is for the ultimate good. Or is it? After being swindled out of a fortune, he begins to question.

Voltaire's novel is full of irony and sarcasm. He uses Candide's naive tone throughout the novel. Don't accept this book on face value - it wasn't written that way. Voltaire was making social comments about society and it's beliefs. Although the novel was placed in 1759, about 100 years before it was written, Voltaire was actually commenting on the society he lived in.

Voltaire was French, so I had to read an English translation. The novel is short and easy to read. There are so many social comments that could be made. One of the most telling, to me, was that the inhabitants were not allowed to leave the paradise city of El Dorado. Not being allowed presupposes that the inhabitants might want to leave. Man can't even be satisfied with paradise.

Candide is a classic that stands up over time. Voltaire was writing about the condition of man and society. You know, we may have progressed technologically, but the human spirit, wants, desires, and beliefs, remain the same over the centuries.

Notice: Non-graphic violence

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