Road to El Dorado Essay

            Candide is consistently being brainwashed by reason (Pangloss) saying that we live in "the best of all possible worlds", while it is quite obviously that he does not. For how can there be, in the best of all worlds, war, slavery and many more abominations. Half-way through the book it would appear that Candide has given up his optimism when he looked at the Negro slave. "Oh Pangloss... I'll have to give up your optimism at last" (73). But to the distress of the readers he has not given up his chafing optimism. "Since I found you [an Eldoradian sheep laden with stones], I'm sure I can find Cunegnde again" (79). Thus we see that he has quickly recovered his optimism. Voltaire is using Candide's blatant optimism to relate to the people of his time that also have the same type of optimism.

The Devil’s Highway by Luis Alberto Urrea traces the journeys of twenty-six men traveling across the border through one of the most treacherous deserts known to man “The Devil’s Highway.” The author’s purpose was to let the world be aware of the events going on all around, with the simple modes of persuasion (pathos, ethos, and logos) Urrea makes you consider what worlds, political and economic, have we created that push humans into impossible journeys? What borders have we imposed, both geopolitical and cultural, that separate human beings so completely?

In Candide, or Optimism, Voltaire envisions a paradise, El Dorado, where the inhabitants have all they ever need and the idea of physical wealth or excess does not

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

This essay will examine the development of the character of Candide over the course of the text as well as commenting on the final conclusion that the protagonist comes to regarding the possibility or otherwise of achieving happiness.

Even though many people practiced this doctrine Voltaire did not aside with it instead, he implanted doubts on the chances of achieving true happiness and real conformism. Voltaire’s opinion was that one could not achieve true happiness in the real world but only experience it in an utopia. With the many hardships that Candide goes through ultimately leads him to abandon his attitude of optimism. Candide’s misfortunes and adversities often contrasted with his optimistic view on life. Noticeably, Voltaire uses this satirical piece as a way to criticize this exaggerated optimism. This tale as stated by William Bottiglia, “ Has had a great effect on modern writers who confront mankind’s inhumanity to fellow human beings by presenting the human condition absurdly, ironically, and humorously...” (Bottiglia 112).

Voltaire’s Candide can be understood in several ways by its audience. At a first glance it would appear to be simply a story blessed with outrageous creativity, but if you look deeper in to the novel, a more complicated and meaningful message is buried within. Voltaire uses the adventures of Candide as a representation of what he personally feels is wrong within in society. Written in the 18th century (1759), known commonly as the age of enlightenment, Voltaire forces his audience to consider the shift from tradition to freedom within society. He achieves this by exploring the reality of human suffering due to

From a young age, Candide had been taught by Pangloss to have an optimistic philosophy, and he kept those ideas with him throughout his life. Even when the people around him feared the worst and complained about their misfortunes, Candide kept going back to the idea that “everything is linked in a chain of necessity, and arranged for the best” (9). And by no means was he left untouched by various trials: he was flogged, penniless, driven from his home, shipwrecked, robbed, and doomed to leave his loved ones. Although these misfortunes make him question the necessity of tribulation, he nonetheless hoped for the best. Part of his optimism might stem from the fact that he was young and healthy, but it’s also because he cared about the welfare of those apart from himself. For instance, when he heard that Cunegondé was dead and Pangloss hanged, he cried, “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what must the others be like? …Mademoiselle Cunegonde…was it necessary for you to be disembowelled?” (16) Clearly, the reason he questioned the “rightness” of the world is because it took away the people he loved. His mourning for those who have died shows his tender innocence, but it also shows his selflessness. In fact, the reason he was so optimistic throughout the story was because of his longing for Cunegondé, his beloved, and his only wish was to be with her and keep her safe. In other words, he lived for something outside of himself, and that caused him to have hope.

Candide, along with his companion Cacambo, stumbles onto the secluded but physically speaking flawless land of Eldorado. Not even here is Candide able to find everything that he is looking for. Eldorado, which was originally the home land of the Incas, is completely sheltered from the rest of the world by the means of unsurpassable mountains. It is here that people are able to escape the evils of the world. Happiness in the real world is just a moment of happening which

Throughout the story of Candide, the author Voltaire uses many of the characters to portray important things in life. The two characters that Voltaire used the most were Candide and Pangloss. Voltaire used these two characters to represent a particular idea or folly that he had about the world. In the story Candide, Voltaire is always portraying his own ideas by using the characters to illustrate his own ideas. Candide and Pangloss represent the main idea of the story, which is Voltaire’s folly of optimism. Even though they both represent the main idea of the story Candide and Pangloss have many similarities and differences.

It is remarkable how differentiated works of literature can be so similar and yet so different, just by the way the authors choose to use select certain literary devices. Two different novels, Brave New World, by Aldous Huxley, and The Road, by Cormac McCarthy, display these characteristics because of the ways the authors institute such mechanisms. Brave New World describes a futuristic era where humans are genetically manufactured for a certain job predestined to them before they are artificially created, and where common human emotions, desires, wants, and needs have all been modified to support a deemed utopian society where everyone lives and works together in harmony. The Road describes a post-apocalyptic

Enlightenment thinkers wanted tangible, concrete evidence to back their arguments. Pangloss based his arguments on nothing. Voltaire portrays him as naïve, scorning him for not experiencing and studying the world before he becomes firmly planted in his ideas. Even after Pangloss experiences the evil ways of the world, he refuses to change his philosophy. Pangloss would rather preach something attractive to the ear rather than reality. Candide’s servant Cacambo also speaks of false optimism as he tries to console Candide over the loss of Cunegonde. He says that women are never at a loss and that God takes care of them. However, Cunegonde and the Old Woman both experienced brutality and suffering many times over in their lifetime. Cunegonde was bought, sold, and treated like a possession throughout the novel. She and the Old Woman were left vulnerable to molestation and treated like objects. The only hint of optimism in Voltaire’s novel is when Cacambo and Candide stumble upon the country of Eldorado. However, this optimism is quickly distinguished when the two men foolishly trade such a perfect society for jewels, gold, power, and influence. Eldorado is a country in which there is no organized religion, no courts or prisons, no poverty, and complete equality. Even the king is treated as a normal citizen. Candide overlooks the fact that this is a perfect society because of the ideals they practice, and believes that the riches are the most

Typically, wealth is an idea that most people view the same way, but in Voltaire’s El Dorado there is a different view of wealth being expressed that suggests peace in society, rather than the corruption for the desire of money. Voltaire criticizes wealth in “Candide”, by showing that El Dorado is paradise and the perfect society because there is no form of wealth and outside of El Dorado there is lying, cheating, and stealing being committed to gain more riches and valuables, which shows that the normal society in the world is corrupt compared to Voltaire’s image of paradise, El Dorado. The different ways that Voltaire criticizes wealth in “Candide” are how money corrupts people through lying, cheating, or stealing, how money is used to bribe other people in the story to do things that are unjust for society, and how Candide is happier being a poor man than a wealthy one. Voltaire’s El Dorado is peaceful and non-violent, while outside of the society, some people are corrupted by the idea of wealth.

Candide’s South American wanderings in many respects become the apex of the Optimistic world view. The zenith of it comes once Candide and Cacambo stumble into Eldorado. The city of Eldorado, compared to their European contemporaries, can be qualified as a utopia. Eldoradan society and law are predicated on the ideals of equality for all, unlike in European where the idea is spoken but not put into practice. Eldorado society is described to be perfect in every way. There are no courts, no prisons; it is described to be a perfect society. The idea of Eldorado can be suggested as a false hope for Candide and Optimism because of the preposterously perfect society of Eldorado. Also due to the fact that it illustrates how impossible the task would be to undertake by a European to create a similar society. This fact especially is made clear by the king of Eldorado, “We have always hitherto been safe from the rapacity of European nations with their unaccountable fondness for the pebbles and dirt off our land, and who would kill us to the very last man just to lay their hands on the stuff” (Voltaire, Candide, 48).

Throughout the novel we follow, the main character, Candide, through his journey of reuniting with his beloved Cunegonde. The journey was very dangerous because throughout the novel, Candide was flogged, forced into an army, shipwrecked, betrayed, robbed, and separated from his love Cunegonde, and tortured by the Inquisition. Most of Candide’s misfortunes was mostly of robbery and abuse. Throughout the journey, Candide was able to acquire love and wealth. Though, both things were taken away from him. Cunegonde and Candide were separated frequently ever since that kiss they shared. As for the wealth, Candide kept flaunting it around and spent a lot of it unwisely. Therefore, the villainous characters in the novel were able to notice that Candide was a fool and noticed that robbing some of his wealth would be an easy task for them. Though, it was at this moment that Candide was fed up