Candide And Journey To The West: Character Analysis

            Candide has reason only in the form of a companion upon which he relies for advice. His companion is Dr. Pangloss. He consistently dribbles to Dr. Pangloss about what should be done. Eventually Pangloss is killed by being hanged. But this means that

In Chapter 19, after leaving El Dorado, Candide and his guide run into a slave who has been brutally punished by his master who had cut of a hand and a leg. Upon hearing of his sad tragedy Candide for the first time strongly refutes optimism, ”Oh Pangloss, cried Candide, you have no notion of these abominations! I'm through, I must give up your optimism after all. What's optimism? said Cacambo. Alas, said Candide, it is a mania for saying things are well when one is in hell” (386). It is finally at this point that Candide sees the uselessness of passivity and unrealistically expecting the best results in every situation that one may stumble upon. As the story progresses it is at this point that Candide begins to argue against the “knowledge” of Pangloss.

At the same time, Candide struggles with why the evil happens if it is indeed the best of all possible worlds: "And whatever Master Pangloss said of the matter, I have often had occasion to notice that things went badly in Westphalia"(p.551). One reason that Candide should not follow blindly whatever Pangloss says is that the beliefs are not his own. Candide needs to look within himself for the key to happiness. What makes Pangloss happy will not necessarily make Candide happy. Candide learns to search himself in the end when he discovers that the key to his own happiness is "cultivating

The Story of Candide is a short but diverse story that tells of a young man’s journey for love and understanding and the hardships he faces, all the while keeping a very strong, positive and philosophical outlook on life. The novel takes place both in fictional and existing locations throughout Latin America and Europe during the 1750’s. Voltaire believed that the society he lived in had many flaws, which are often illustrated and satirized in Candide. Candide’s journey portrays the flawed human assumption that the grass is always greener on the other side as well as giving the reader an apt example of an individual’s journey from innocence through a series of trials and tribulations to becoming a mature, experienced and enlightened individual.

Enlightenment philosophers wanted concrete, tangible proof to back their ideas. Pangloss, Candide’s friend and teacher, is a character that depicts the metaphysical side of the Old Regime. He is an optimist who believes that there is no effect without a cause and that everything is made for a reason and with a purpose. Voltaire portrays Pangloss as naive. Pangloss finds himself in trouble for studying and exploring the world before he becomes sure of himself and his ideas. Even after Pangloss’s troubles, he still refuses to stray from his thoughts and would rather believe his ideas than face reality. Another character that is depicted as naive and optimistic is Cacambo, Candide’s servant. Cacambo consoles Candide after his loss of Cunegonde. Cacambo claims that God takes care of all women and that they will never be at a loss. But Candide knows the sufferings that Cunegonde and the Old Woman have experienced. Cunegonde was bought, sold, and objectified throughout the novel, along with the Old Woman, who was beaten, raped, and treated with

he still believes that there is no effect without a cause but since he is for the first time exposed to the disasters of the real world, he sort of begins to doubt Pangloss's optimism. While Candide is traveling with his sidekick Cacambo, he discovers that he is not high class enough to get married to Cunegonde by the baron, but apparently it's reasonable for monkeys to have sexual relations with young woman. This throws Candide off because the two are so contradicting. Candide doesn't understand how people can see things so differently . All he's known is Pangloassian theory and now he is encountering opposing theories of life. Cacambo sums up what the new world has to offer by saying that “this hemisphere is no better than the other one.” Candide is beginning to understand that he is not going to find everything that he is looking for, and that he is not going to find the best of all possible worlds because it doesn't exist.

Candide made his way to Holland, after losing Pangloss in a war. While in Holland, he begged for food and money, but received only threats. He spoke to a priest who was preaching about charity. The divide between Catholics and Protestants explained in the hostile response of the priest. A kind Anabaptist took him home, cleaned, fed, and helped him recover. Candide, thankful, expresses his repeated

The interdependency between Wu and Buddhism blooms as early as her overtaking of the imperial rule of China. As resourceful and violent as Wu is in securing her title, demonstrated by the empress’s exploitation of the “secret police force to monitor dissident factions,” she is also cunning in gathering support from the ordinary masses, such as the Buddhists and their followers (Bentley 290). She “generously patronize[s] Buddhists, who return the favor by composing

Monkey: Journey to the West is a story of an adventure for enlightenment to India in order to find ancient Buddhist scriptures. The story consists of Chinese legends, tales, and superstitions. Daoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism play a huge role throughout this story. Monkey: Journey to the West is a story that discusses religion, and moral issues. The monkey acts the way he does due to underlying religious themes played throughout the story. At first understanding why the Monkey acts the way he does may seem difficult. However, after reading deeper through the story one learns that social satire in the Monkey is what gives him his rebellious personality. The end of the story reveals the hidden spiritual meaning behind the monkeys change in

she can

In the story Candide is the main protagonist but not only is this he one of the most tantalizing figures in the story. Throughout this story Candide has a philosophy of optimism which he got from Pangloss his beloved tutor. This type of outlook you could only get from someone else in your life because you are not born with optimism it is what you are taught. Everyone has learned something from someone and carried it throughout their lives and it could come from a sibling, relatives, or instructors. Even with this optimism I do not know if I would have the same type of outlook on my life as Candide did with all he endured in his life.

How do the experiences of the women in Candide differ from those of the men? How do their reactions to those experiences differ from those of the men?

Candide begins with the title character receiving instruction from his tutor Dr. Pangloss, whose worldview is characteristically optimistic (he ceaselessly asserts that the world they inhabit is the best that it possibly could be). Pangloss is a kind of satirized version of Johnson's Imlac. Neither philosopher appears to have any real control over the events of the world, even though their prescient ideas seem to give them some sort of mental agility and power. Candide is indeed

She can

In Candide, Voltaire introduces many different characters, some which represent the implementation of mockery and sarcasm. The role of Pangloss in particular embodies this portrayal of satire towards the Enlightenment. Voltaire uses his book to reflect his own critical view of the time period, mostly against those who were reluctant to change their methods of thinking. Much of this judgment is through the commentary of Pangloss, Candide’s tutor and the Baron’s philosopher, who seems to always have an optimistic view even in the worst situations possible and refuses to see it any other way; this can be interpreted as a metaphor for the Enlightenment.