CKQ++ch+4-12+Susie


 * Key Question for //Candide//**

In //Candide//, Voltaire is satirizing the idea that this is 'the best of all possible worlds." Therefore, Voltaire wants to you answer the following question:

1. Why is this not the best of all possible worlds? But, at the same time, //Candide// is not an entirely hopeless novel. What 'rays of hope' do you see? As you post your responses to the key question also mention 'rays of hope' that you see in the novel.

Here are some specific categories to look for:
 * religion
 * kings
 * governments
 * war
 * avarice (greed)
 * social pride
 * dishonesty
 * slavery
 * inhuman treatment of others
 * disease
 * cataclysms

Mr. Stephens, I have not brought the book home with me, so I got the text from the internet. So, I do not have the page numbers, but when I get to school I will change it as soon as possible.

Chapter. 4 Page

"..'her boy was ripped open by the Bulgarian soldiers, after they had subjected her to as much cruelty as a damsel could survive; they knocked he Baron, her father, on the head for attempting to defend her; My Lady, her mother, was cut in pieces; my poor pupil was served just in the same manner as his sister; and as for the castle, they have not let on stone upon another'..." This passage shows how the world is not the best of all possible worlds in two ways: avarice and inhuman treatment of others. Avarice, also known as greed, is clearly shown in this short passage. Because of the greed of the Bulgarian Soldiers, the family of Baron had to suffer and later be killed. On the other hand, Inhuman treatment to others is shown the most in the passage. To be inhumanly treated is based on one's own values. Despite the variety, many or most people can identify that what the Bulgarian soldiers did was morally and humanly wrong.

Chapter 7 Page

"Candide followed the old woman, though without taking courage, to a decayed house, where she gave him a pot of pomatum to anoint his sores, showed him a very neat bed, with a suit of clothes hanging by it; and set victuals and drink before him." This short passage shows the 'rays of hope' to the main protagonist, Candide. Candide in this passage is shocked by someone who is willing to help him when he is in a state of despair. Although series of horrible events happen in this book, there is always a 'ray of hope' or someone that helps him out in one point or another. Even in the darkness, the 'ray of hope' still shines upon the main character, Candide.

Chapter 10 Page

"..'Who could it be that has robbed me of my moidores and jewels?' exclaimed Miss Cunegund, all bathed in tears...'I have a shrewed suspicion of a reverend Franciscan father, who lay last night in the same inn with us at Badajoz. God forbid I should condemn any one wrongfully, but he came into our room twice, and he set off in the morning long before us.'" In this key passage, dishonesty is clearly shown proving the world not being the best of all possible worlds. This passage shows that the dishonesty of one man may ruin three lives at once. If the world was the best possible world, this dishonesty would not occur. However, since in //Candide__,__// the main protagonist, Candide faces these problems caused by a dishonesty of one man.

Some wordings may not seem right, sorry Mr. Stephens, D: but I am very tired this late... well I guess early in the morning.