Candide's views on how life really is started to change as soon as he witnessed how men are naturally evil. He notices this when he was robbed of everything he owned by the sailors. Another example of this would be when Candide and Cacambo find the slave waiting for his master. Candide couldn't believe what he was seeing and he was devastated. Candide couldn't possibly imagine how one human being could do this to another. His ideas on how men truly are come out when he has his conversations with Martin. You can now begin to notice how Candide is starting to mature as a character after every obstacle he overcomes.
Sir, your knowledge of the young lad Candide is that of awe-inspiring levels. It's fascinating how these examples are presented shallowly, but once read they are of the up most depthness. I also find it unworldly how you were able to detect such subtle differences in young Candide's evolution from Boy Lad to Man Lad. It's righteous to say the very least. A quintessential post about characterization, young sir.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your point that Candide is starting to see for himself how evil exists, but not only how it exists but also how men are naturally evil. Candide is a confused character. I think being that the fact that he has lived in a palace for almost his entire life has placed a veil over the reality of the world. However, living with that "calm/perfect" idea of life makes him new to experiences of the "un-perfectness" of the actual real world.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think his sureness behind Pangloss' philosophy is more and more questioned as the book goes on, beginning with the hanging of Pangloss to realizing that maybe Westphalia was not the best of all worlds because at Cayenne, he didn't experience warfare, earthquakes, and all these new things to him. Indeed, when he did get to experience such, then he starts to question how if its the "best of all possible worlds" such things happen. He is confused because of how Pangloss' unreal optimistic view on life gives him more room to follow through the difficulties he goes through as he does, for example everytime he would experience something terrible, he would be optimistic, and realize something good would happen which fullfils Pangloss' philosophy.