Candide Essay, Research Paper

Throughout the story Candide, it is hard to believe that Pangloss s philosophy, that all things happen for the best, can possibly have any merit.

The story begins in an ideal setting. Candide lives in the castle of Westphalia. Life is good until he is caught kissing the Baron s daughter, Cunegonde. He is kicked out of the castle. And instead of sleeping in a nice warm bed, he wakes up in the middle of a snowy field on his own. And this is just the beginning of a series of causes that lead to disastrous effects for each character.

Candide next gets tricked into the Bulgarian army. With the evil, cruelty, and suffering he undergoes in the war, he begins to question Pangloss s theory that everything happens for a reason. His experiences are so terrible that he escapes and flees to Holland where he meets Pangloss. Who has gone through his share of bad luck.

After the Bulgarian army attacks Westphalia, Pangloss escapes but not before being infected with Syphilis from Pacquette, a chambermaid in the castle. He barley survives the sexually transmitted disease, which made him very very sick. He lives through a storm at sea, which brings him to Lisbon, only to be hung as a sacrifice to prevent another hurricane. With all of these experiences as well as others that follow in the end he realizes that perhaps his theory is not true, but thinks its best to keep his true feelings to himself.

Candide is full of causes and effects. They occur in each character throughout the story. Voltaire connects the characters through their misfortunes. And in the end Pangloss says it best when he tells Candide, There is a concatenation of events in the best of all possible worlds: for if you had not been kicked out of magnificent castle for love of Miss Cunegonde: if you had not been put into the Inquisition: if you had not walked over America: if you had not stabbed the Baron: you would not be here eating preserved citrons and pistachio-nuts.