Voltaire Notes About Candide
Candide, a novel by Voltaire, is an adventure story that can be summed up into one word: eccentric. The story begins with the introduction of an extremely wealthy family that resides in the England province known as Westphalia. While there, he encounters two people who will have a greater impact on his beliefs, goals, and determination than anybody else in his life would. One is Professor Pangloss who is renowned philosopher during that time period in England. He teaches Candide that everything in life has a cause and that every cause is good in some way. This would be a truth that he would carry with him until the end of his life. The other was Cunegonde. She became the love of his life from the moment that he saw her. He would spend the rest of that life chasing after her to all the ends of the earth.
They had a rough time from the start. Not too soon after they met, Candide was kicked out of his home for kissing his true love behind a screen. He received his punishment of brutal whippings and was sent on his way. He sets out with nothing but his beloved Cunegonde on his mind. He traveled to many places and meets many people, but no person or beautiful climate can satisfy his desire more than being with Cunegonde. He encountered many misfortunes along his way as well. Some include having to run through a gauntlet of some two thousand soldiers, being robbed by a Spanish boat captain, and catching a very serious illness in Europe. The greatest tragedy of all was when he and his beloved Cunegonde were finally reunited. He looked upon her to discover that her beauty had changed to wrinkles and her appearance was more hideous than he could imagine; he did not love her anymore.
Candide begins his long journey with the belief that everything in life has a reason of why it happened and that it's purpose is always good in some way. As he encountered his many misfortunes he began to wonder if his theory of non-existing evil and surrounding...
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