CKQ++ch+4-12+Joon


 * 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
 * cataclysm

In the appropriate page below, respond to the key question. Essentially, you are helping us understand how Voltaire is satirizing Optimism in your section. You will present your findings to the class after the class has completed reading your section. Assessment will be based on thoroughness in identifying the targets of Voltaire's satire in your section.

Requirements:
 * 3-5 examples
 * your examples should include evidence that demonstrates why this is not the best of all possible worlds
 * remember to look for 'rays of hope'
 * as in the example above, quote your evidence and explain how it answers the key question

Pg. 14

"Help! Get me some oil and wine; I am dying. But these earthquakes are nothing new, replied Pangloss." "At which point Candide fainted, and Pangloss brought him a little water from a nearby fountain. Instead of immediatly getting help and getting some oil and wine, Pangloss just tells him that she has seen many of these earthquakes and you shouldn't be hurt. Pangloss simply acknowledges him as some sort of normal casualty and greets his injury with an almost casual response. This is a prime example of inhuman treatment; Pangloss acts like he cannot help and simply analyze the situation. Though Pangloss sees that Candide is really injured and so Pangloss jolts into action. Which can tell us that people are sometimes act indifferent but when they are faced with a sudden dilema, they help the person in need of help when they snap out of there indifferent stage.

Pg. 18

"But first you must tell me everything that has happened to you since the innocent kiss you gave me and those kicks you received for your pains." Avarice takes a large part of what happened in the scene of which this line speaks of. The Baron obviously did not anyone like Candide to touch her daughter and so he kicked him out for that small innocent gesture. Though this statement is more about the rays of hope in this world. Though things may turn out to be horrid for you because of an unintentional action from someone, this line states that they did not want things to turn out like this and the wording of the statement makes us realize that she regrets that this happened and that might make all the difference in the world full of woe.

Pg 20

"The Grand Inquisitor noticed me one day at Mass; he ogled me throughout the service, and then sent word that he had to speak to me on private business." Corruption is the main offender in this scene, because a religious figure such as himself should not be delighted in the presence of a women and furthermore, should not be interested in a woman. Especially at a religious service, the Grand Inquisitor decides to take Cunègonde for himself. Also, he probably had to take her with force because she belongs to the Jew, and he reasons, and threatens him to give her to himself, which is a form of slavery, dishonesty, and corruption all together.