Candide by Colin Sim
Chapters 2-4
Chapters 5-8
Chapters 9-12
Chapters 13-16
Chapters 21-24
Chapters 17-20
Chapters 28-30
Chapters 25-27
Candide is enlisted into the army of Bulgars ⚔
He is accused of desertion and he is tortured
"So, exercising that divine gift called Liberty, he decided to run the gauntlet thirty-six times"(24)
The two armies go to war on a grand scale
The Buglars lost the battle 🏳 and the 'heroes' on the other side enjoyed their victory
"the bayonet provided 'sufficient reason' for the death of several thouasand"(25)
Voltaire is being satiric again of optimism and he does not really think that there is a good reason for the death of this many people.
"Girls who had satisfied the appetites of several heroes lay disemboweled in their last agonies"(26)
Voltaire is making fun of the notion of the thought of heroes in war . Voltaire is not calling these people heroes but villains and evil. He is also point out how pointless war is.
The government thinks that if they sacrifice people then they will prevent future earthquakes
Candide is shown to a house and Lady Cunegonde is there to great him
Candide, Pangloss, and the Sailor arrive in Lisbon and discover that an earthquake has occurred
Lady Cunegonde told her story about what happened to her
James dies trying to help a sailor get back on board even though he hit him first the sailor did nothing to save James.
This shows that James was a kind man until the end and he did not have to save the sailor that struck him, but he did and it cost him his life.
The Sailor steals money buys food alcohol and women in the turmoil that this shows that he is a rather immoral person and does not care about others saying "'There'll be something worth picking up here'"(33)
Candide was flogged and Pangloss was hung
Candide is very happy to see her again and says that "his past life seemed like a nightmare and the present moment a happy dream"(39
Voltaire is showing in this section that how women are treated as objects and Cunegonde is sold and traded like a good and treated as a slave.
Candide thought about saving James but Pangloss stopped him saying "that Lisbon harbour was made on purpose for this Anabaptist to drown there."(33) Voltaire was being satiric of optimism again.
Voltaire is writing about the earthquake that make him become very opposed to optimism and he is using the sailor as a person who used the pain and suffering of others to their own advantage
Candide and Pangloss tried to help people who were suffering in the aftermath of the earthquake and Pangloss was questioned by an officer of the Inquisition. Pangloss responded "'Fall of Man and eternal punishment enter, of Necessity'"(35)
Voltaire is laying out a common argument people against optimism use and he shows that it requires twisted logic to refute the statements
Candide really wanted to help people after the earthquake which provides insight to his character.
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They killed two people who did not eat pork which means they were jewish and Voltaire is making a comment about anti-semitism
Candide is beginning to doubt optimism and said "'If this is the best of all possible worlds,' he said to himself, 'what can the rest be like?'"(37)
This is showing that Candide is changing what he thinks to be true and therefore beginning to also change as a person
Pangloss died and he was killed for no real reason the purpose of his death was for Candide to continue to question his morals Pangloss was a man who believed in optimism, but was not too optimistic and never sought to improve the situation he was currently in
Voltaire makes a little jab a Christianity when Lady Cunegonde says "the Bulgars (by grace of God) arrived at our lovely Thunder-ten-tronckh and slaughtered my parents'"(40) He does not actually think that it is God's will that caused her to be abused, but he makes the comment to satirise religion
Cunegonde was a women of status but no is sold around and forced to serve. It is clear that Cunegonde has a great deal of persistence in this time of pain and suffering.
Candide kills the Don Issachar and also the Grand Inquisitor and runs away from the town
Candide kills the first man out of self defense, but the second man he rationalized the killing and thinks "'If this holy man calls for help, he will assuredly have me burnt, and Cunegonde, too, in all probability. I have been mercilessly whipped at his orders; besides, he's my rival. I've got into the way of killing people. There's no time to hesitate."(45)
Voltaire is also making a comment about the church because a highly religious man in the Grand Inquisitor has another woman
Cunegonde's jewels got stolen by a Friar
Candide impresses a spanish General and makes Candide Captain of a company and Him, Cunegonde and the old lady are going to Paraguay
We hear the old woman's story we learn that she was once wealth and beautiful, but her husband was killed and their ship got taken over by pirates and her and her mother were to be sold in Morocco as slaves.
Voltaire is again making fun of religious figures they are suppose to be moral people, yet a Friar is the one is stealing and Voltaire is pointing out the hypocrisy in this.
Candide while still sad of the loss reminds them of Pangloss's words "'that worldly goods are common to all men, and that everyone has an equal right to them'"(47)
Voltaire is pointing out the ridiculousness in this argument and in optimism as well. He probably thinks that if this were true then everyone would steal everything if they have equal right to the possessions
During the journey Cunegonde and Candide debate Pangloss's philosophy.
Candide thinks that "'We are going to a different world,' said Candide, 'and I expect it is the one where all goes well'"(48)
Cunegonde says that "'I have been so terribly unfortunate in my affairs, that I have lost almost all hope'"(48)
Voltaire disagree's with this line of thinking because in optimism it is said that God could only create one world and it was the best possible not it seems that there is another world that God created it is a flaw in the logic.
Voltaire is making the point about optimism again that there is too much evil in the world for it to be the best world.
The old women yells at the both of them for complaining too much
When they got there Morocco was in a civil war and Voltaire again speaks to the horrors of war saying "It was perpetual massacre throughout the length and breadth of the empire"(52)
"They fought like the lions, tigers, and serpents of their country to decide who should have us."(52)
What Voltaire wants to get across here is that the fighting was brutal, but what they were fighting for was not worth only two women. They were fighting for the right to rape women and Voltaire wanted to point out what a terrible act it was to kill men for the purpose of raping women.
The women continues her story she went to another place where there was a plague and she had one butt cheek eaten off and then she was beaten everyday for two years then she was a servant in many inns around Russia.
Voltaire lightens the mood at the end of a rather morbid chapter with the "'O che sicagura d'essere senza cogolioni"(53) He tries to make light of the topic of rape.
"I have wanted to kill myself a hundred times, but somehow I am still in love with life, This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our most melancholy propensities; for is there anything more stupid"(57)
Voltaire is making the point in this passage that while he does not believe in optimism he does believe in hope and that there is a better world out there, but humans have to strive for it and not simply take the bad with the good. He thinks that there is something in humans keeps them moving forward.
A lot is learned in the past two chapters about the old woman she has endured many horrible situations seen many deaths and been raped many times and used as an object and treated as a slave and had one buttocks eaten off. She continues to live because she "loves life" and she does not know why, but she is a character that is showing that through pain some degree of love can be found
Cunegonde is proposed to by Don Fernando d'Ibaraa y Figueroa y Mascarenes yLampourdos y Souza
The Colonel was saved by a Jesuit priest who "took a fancy"(66) to a "good-looking boy"(66) he ascended to the top of the church and was sent to paraguay to be a Priest and a Colonel
Candide and Cacambo meet with the Jesuits of Paraguay
Candide shoots two monkeys thinking that he is helping two women, but it turns out that they were the women's lovers
The pope broke his celibacy. Voltaire again is making a comment about the church
Another point of the story is to show how terrible humans can be and again disproving optimism in that there is too much evil in the world for it to be the best possible.
Voltaire is making fun of the nobles and their emphasis on family names and their ridiculousness
Cunegonde accepts the proposal, yet Candide still sees her as pure even though she is not and uses her beauty to manipulate men throughout the story.
The old lady says "'I confess that, if I were in your place, I should have no hesitation in marrying the Governor and making the captain's fortune.'"(60)
In this section we learn that Candide is very naive to what Cunegonde is doing and he does builds her up in his own mind
We learn that Cunegonde is looking out for herself and would have probably stayed with Candide if she truly loved him.
Cacambo is a servant to Candide and is very capitable.He tells Candide when he is weeping for Cunegonde ""Women are never at a loss. God looks after them'"(61)
Candide eats dinner on golden plates and eating a fine dinner "while the Paraguayans ate their maize on wooden dishes in the open field in the full blaze of the sun"(63)
Voltaire is making the point of how the Europeans mistreated the native people and Voltaire is making this clear in that the Paraguayans were eating outside and had very little to eat
The Colonel turned out to be the brother of Lady Cunegonde and both Candide and the Colonel were in tears
The Jesuits and not fighting for the interest of the native people, but rather fort themselves and Voltaire is again pointing out the corruption in religion and how it is being used incorrectly
Voltaire is making the point the there was a sexual relationship between the young Colonel and the Jesuit priest.
Candide told the Colonel wanted to marry Cunegonde and the Colonel got mad because Candide had no status so he killed the Colonel and get away by wearing his clothes
Voltaire makes another jab at optimism with Candide's comment "Pangloss used to tell me that men are equal; and I shall marry her without hesitation."(67) In the entire novel we see that rank and status is important in society and Voltaire is making the point that optimism makes sense on paper, but not too much in practice
Candide says "I have already killed three men, and two of them were priests,"(67) if Candide truly thinks that all men are equal then why does the fact that they were priests matter another flaw in the optimistic logic that Voltaire is pointing out.
Candide remembering Pangloss's teaching says"'similar accidents used to happen in the old days, and that such unions produced centaurs, fauns, and satyrs'(70)
Voltaire does not think that optimists believe that centaurs exists, but he is making fun of them in general and not actually mocking their philosophy
Candide and Cacambo get captured by Biglugs and almost get eaten because they think that Candide is a Jesuit but they talk their way out of it.
Candide is very happy after that and says "'What grand people they are!' he said. 'What fine fellows! And what a culture!'"(72)
This is right after they were just about to eat them and Candide only has nice things to say about them. They just about get eaten but Candide is only filled with Optimism this again shows the ridiculous thought patterns of the optimist
Candide is again showing his ignorance he really has built it up in his head that this world is the best of all worlds and he will do anything to see the bright side of any morbid situation.
Candide and Cacambo leave the El Dorado because their wealth is useless in the country and want to use their newfound wealth
Candide gets his sheep stolen by a ship owner and he lost his forture
Candide and Cacambo learn more about the El Dorado and there town.
Candide and Martin begin to sail back to the old world and talk about philosophy and they see two ships battle an one ship sink
Candide and Cacambo stumble upon a land, called El Dorado, that is perfect in everyway and gold is nothing to them, but pebbles.
This is Voltaire's utopia it is the best possible world that he could imagine that is El Dorado's purpose in the novel.
The kingdom has religion but it is different than others
"'We never pray,' said this good and venerable man; 'we have nothing to ask of God, since He has given us everything we need. But we thank Him unceasingly'"(79)
Voltaire is making the comment that people use praying for the purpose of asking for things and that nobody would ever pray if they had everything that they wanted
Candide says "'Do you mean to say you have no monks teaching and disputing, governing and intriguing, and having people burned if they don't subscribe to their opinions?" (80)
Voltaire is making fun of the monks and how they literally kill people who do not agree with them and Voltaire thinks that this is ridiculous.
The Kingdom does not have any prisons or court system and instead focuses on other trades
"court cases, in fact were unknown. He enquired whether there were any prisons, and his guide answered no."(82)
Voltaire is saying that many governments spend a great deal of money and time on prisons and courts and these resources could be allocated for greater purposes
"'If we stay here, we shall be no different from anybody else'"(82)
Candide wants the wealth that this land brings but he cannot enjoy it when everybody has it also he wants to buy back Cunegonde
Voltaire is making the point in El Dorado everything is perfect but people do not want perfection and equality they want to be above their fellow man and equal with them.
"'It is probably the country where all goes well; for there must obviously be some such place'"(77)
Candide believes that this truly is the best possible world. The one that Pangloss was talking about.
Voltaire is commenting on the power of greed from both Candide leaving El Dorado to flaunt his wealth and also the captain of the ship stealing his fortune
Candide is beginning to truly renounce optimism after he lost his fortune he is starting to side with pessimism after all of his experiences
"'It would have puzzled the great man to make a good case for his theories. I wish he were here. If all goes well, it is in Eldorado,but nowhere else in the world.'"(90)
Candide is saying that if optimism is true then it is only true in Eldorado and not in any other worlds
Martin is the exact opposite to Pangloss and he believes that evil is in the hearts of every man .
Martin says "In short, I have seen and experienced so much, that I am forced to believe that man's origin is evil'"(92)
Voltaire is making the point through Martin that the world is a bad place full of bad people and there is so much evil in the world and he is saying how can this much evil come from something perfect in God.
One ship sinks and Candide finds his sheep and is happy and said that the captain got what he deserved
Martin says "'God has punished a scoundrel, but the devil has drowned the rest.'"(94)
Voltaire is saying that yes the person was punished but at what cost and one man's punishment lead to a great deal of other evil. Also he is speaking to war in general and that many men die for one man's purpose
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Candide and Pangloss meet James the antibabtist
James's philosophy is that humans are responsible for their own suffering because of Adam and Eve creating the first sin. He takes in Candide and makes him an apprentice and gives him food. This shows that James is a kind man who wants to help.
Candide gets swindled into thinking that Lady Cunegonde is sick in Paris and they go to vist her but they get arrested but Candide pays his way out.
Candide and Martin get to the coast of England and they see an admiral get shot and so Candide refuses to set foot on English soil and therefore they sail to Venice
Candide gets sick when they arrive in France and doctors try to help him but he only gets more sick
Candide sees a monk and his old friend Paquette who gave Pangloss syphilis and she has had a tough life and was in prison for awhile and is a prositiute now and the monk says that he does not want to be in the church
Candide and Martin approach France and they both discuss philosophy further
Martin tells stories of his misfortunes and offers no positive side and says "'I have seen so many extraordinary things, that nothing is extraordinary any longer'"(96)
Voltaire is making the point here the pessimistic people love nothing and hate nothing it is only blah they feel nothing because they say the have been desensitised to the pain
Voltaire makes fun of French people in this chapter shows his disdain for his native country that he was exiled from
Voltaire ends the chapter by making the point that humans have free will and have the choice to decide if they want to do the moral correct option or immoral one
Martin says "'if hawks have always had the same character, why should you suppose that men have changed theirs?'"(96)
Martin is saying here that all men are evil now so they have been evil forever and therefore created that way.
"By dint of medicines and bleeding, Candide's disorder now became serious"(97)
Voltaire is saying in this section that doctors do not have to much value and often times do not make their patients better which was mostly true for the times blood letting is not really effective at healing diseases.
Candide is forced to pay two officers that were going to have him arrested Martin and Candide agree to leave to England
the abbe proved to be an interesting character because he was originally a good philosopher, yet stole a great deal of money from Candide
"'in this country we find it pays to shoot an admiral from time to time to encourage the others'"(111)
Voltaire holds England in very high regards he finds it not be perfect just better than other places and this is shown in this Chapter
Voltaire is making fun of the disciplinary techniques of the military they have no set rules yet they find it necessary to take a man's life when he did not take enough of others
Voltaire again is making fun of the church even the people involved in the church do not want to be there and are involved in immoral behavior.
Paquette says that she is "'reduced to borrowing a skirt for some disagreeable creature to lift up...I am one of the most unhappy creatures alive'"(115)
Paquette was happy and vivacious when Candide first saw her yet inside she is only feeling pain and suffering.
Voltaire again is protaying women never as happy and always being used by men as sexual objects and there seems to be no happiness for women
Cacambo, Candide and Martin head over to Turkey to get the love of his life back and then they see Pangloss and the Baron that Candide killed
Candide sees Cacambo and he tells him that Cunegonde is in Constantinople and he would go now but he is a slave to one of the six kings that are dining at the inn
Candide and Martin visit Count Pococurante and he is a very pesimistic person and does not take pleasure in anything
"'There was a time when people convinced me that I enjoyed reading Homer; but that eternal succession of identical combats, those gods who are always so busy to no effect, that Helen of his who gives rise to the war yet plays so little part in the story'"(120)
"'these collections merely consist of vain philosophical systems, devoid of any useful information'"(121)
Voltaire is saying another point about war that gods, or modern day elites, use people as pawns in their boredom and Helen, or anything slightly irritating, in justifiable reason to risk thousands of others lives
Pococurante is someone who once enjoyed things because others liked them or because they are regarded as epics so he felt he had to like them however he grew bored of this and decided not to like anything altogether.
The Count only takes pleasure in criticism and Voltaire uses this character to show that maybe nothing in this world can bring joy because the Count has every physical thing he could ever want, yet there is still something missing
"'Constantinople?... Heavens alive!...However, if she were in China, I should fly to her. Let us go.'"(125)
"'I was once Emperor of all the Russias but was dethroned in my cradle'"(126)
"I am Charles Edward, King of England, My father ceded me his sovereign rights'"(127)
"I, too, am King of Poland. I lost my kingdom twice'"(127)
This is showing that Candide has built up Cunegonde after waiting years to be with her he sees her as perfection even though she is far from it.
Voltaire is making the point that all people are hungry for power and that is why the kings were dethroned either by family members or by war they all lost their kingdom
Also the time of Monarchs is coming to a close at this point in history and therefore capitalism is beginning to sprout up and also take over the kings.
"'Beautiful or ugly, I am an honest man, and my duty is to love her always'"(129)
"But how was it I did not kill you, my dear Baron?' he asked. 'And, my dear Pangloss, how do you come to be alive after being hanged?'"(132)
Again this is showing that Candide thinks that his happiness revolves around being with Cunegonde and he may be disappointed when she does not reach Candide's expectations.
They are both alive by some miracle and Voltaire need the characters back in the story so he put them back it is not a story about plot so it does not really matter
Candide finds Cunegonde and she is ugly and the Baron disproves of the marriage and Candide buys Cunegonde and the old lady
Everybody in the end is pretty much unhappy with where they are in life and do not really want to be on the farm
The Baron and Pangloss tell their stories of how they ended up in the galleys.
The Baron was caught bathing with a young Mussulman "'I met a handsome youg lad who was one of the Sultan's pages. It was very hot, and the young man wanted to bathe'"(134)
"'I still hold my original views,' replied Pangloss 'for I am still a philosopher. It would not be proper for me to recant, especially as Leibniz cannot be wrong; and besides the pre-established harmony...is the most beautiful thing in the world.
Voltaire is satirising priests again because he is suggesting that, similar to another part in the novel, that the baron is involved in a homosexual relationship
Pangloss is still holding on to his original views of optimism and he still thinks that this is the best possible world despite all the evil that he has seen in his life.
Cunegonde was literally a slave and the Baron still will not let Cunegonde marry Candide
"I shall never allow her to disgrace herself so meanly,' said the Baron"(138)
He has been raped many times so marrying Candide cannot be that big of deal
Voltaire is making the point that even after all this time status is important he is pointing out in a ridiculous situation how petty the thought of status is when it comes to marriage or anything else
The Turkish Farmer represents the ideal life according to Voltaire he experiences very little pain he has a family and a farm he does not concern himself with politics of gossip a simply life, maybe, is better than one of riches. Voltaire wanted to place this into the novel to show that there is not only evil in this world and not everyone is forced to be in pain
"'That's true enough,' said Candide; 'but we must go and work in the garden.'"(144)
"'I should like to know which is the worst, to be ravished a hundred times by negro pirates, to be have one buttock cut off, to run the gauntlet of a Bulgar regiment, to be whipped and hanged at an auto-da-fe, to be dissected, to row in galleys--in fact, to experience all the miseries through which we have passes--or just to stay here with nothing to do?'"(140)
I think that the point that Voltaire is trying to make through the Old Woman is that she stopped feeling anything and even if the feeling is pain at least she knows that she is alive and has stories to tell. Pain and suffering is terrible, but it is still an experience nevertheless
Voltaire is making the point that even if optimism is correct then man still has to make a life for himself and try to better the world and also to "to dress it and to keep it" and not only talk about our purpose on this earth, but rather to life our life for a purpose