CKQ+ChristineC

Key Question for //Candide //
 * 1) When Candide and Cacambo arrive in Surinam, they encounter a black man without a leg and right hand. The man says that his master has treated him this way; he talks about how whites and blacks are treated unequally. After hearing the story of the black man, Candide says, “Oh Pangloss! This is one abomination you could not have anticipated, and I fear it has finally done for me: I am giving up on your Optimism after all” (pg.52). This proves how this isn’t the best of all possible worlds, because even Candide admits that people are getting mistreated everywhere. Candide says that things are not well and cries as he looks at the black man.
 * 2)  Martin (the scholar traveling with Candide) says, “I think that God has indeed abandoned it all to some malign being- all except your Eldorado, of course. I have scarcely seen a town that did not desire the ruin of the next town, nor a family that did not wish to exterminate some other family. Everywhere the weak loathe the strong, before whom they cringe, and the strong treat them like so many sheep to be sold for their meat and their wool…Private griefs are crueler even than public miseries” (pg.56). In this passage, Martin talks about how people try to gain power, even if it takes them to step on others as they do so. He explains how people are greedy and ambitious to become the best and the most powerful. This surely isn’t the best of all possible worlds, because it shows how people are evil.  
 * 3) After listening to the life stories of the candidates in Surinam, Candide says, “That Pangloss would be hard pressed to prove his system now. I wish he were here. What is certain is that if all is well, then it is so in Eldorado and nowhere else on earth” (pg.55). Again, Candide finds it difficult to believe that this is the best of all possible worlds, because all of the candidates have gone through great misfortunes and despair. Candide says that if Optimism would only apply to Eldorado, not anywhere else.
 * 4) Despite all the despair, the novel shows some hope. On page 55, Candide “Hoped to see Mademoiselle Cunegonde again”. Also, he has “some gold and diamonds” that can help him. His wealth and the thought of meeting Cunegonde again give hope to him.