Voltaires Candide

Term Paper Title	Voltaires Candide
# of Words	866
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	3.46

Voltaire's Candide

for true happiness and his ultimate acceptance of life's
disappointments.  Candide grows up in the Castle of Westfalia and
is taught by the learned philosopher Dr. Pangloss.  Candide is
abruptly exiled from the castle when found kissing the Baron's
daughter, Cunegonde.  Devastated by the separation from Cunegonde,
his true love, Candide sets out to different places in the hope of
finding her and achieving total happiness.  The theme of Candide is
that one must strive to overcome adversity and not passively accept
it in the belief that all is for the best.
     Candide's misfortune begins when he is kicked out of the
castle and experiences a series of horrible events.  Candide is
unable to see anything positive in his ordeals, contrary to Dr.
Pangloss' teachings that there is a cause for all effects and that,
though we might not understand it, everything is all for the good.
Candide's endless trials begin when he is forced into the army
simply because he is the right height, five feet five inches.  In
the army he is subjected to endless drills and humiliations and is
almost beaten to death.  Candide escapes and, after being degraded
by good Christians for being an anti-Christ, meets a diseased
beggar who turns out to be Dr. Pangloss.  Dr. Pangloss informs him
that Bulgarian soldiers attacked the castle of Westfalia and killed
Cunegonde - more misery!
     A charitable Anabaptist gives both Candide and Dr. Pangloss
money and assistance.  Dr. Pangloss is cured of his disease, losing
one of his eyes and one of his ears.  The Anabaptist takes them
with him on a journey to Lisbon.  While aboard the ship, the
Anabaptist falls overboard in the process of rescuing a crew
member.  Candide finds it more and more difficult to accept Dr.
Pangloss' principle that all is for the best.
     In Lisbon there is an earthquake which kills thousands of
people, throwing the city into ruins.  Later, Dr. Pangloss is hung
as part of an auto-de-fe.  Candide is miraculously taken in by an
old woman and is brought to his love, Cunegonde.  She tells him of
the torture she suffered and how she barely survived.  She further
explains that she was "shared" by a Jew named Don Issachar and the
Grand Inquisitor.  Candide kills the two men and escapes with
Cunegonde and the old woman.
     At this point we begin to see Candide struggling and fighting
to make his existence worthwhile, in the hope that he and Cunegonde
would marry and live happily ever after.  We saw Candide taking
matters into his own hands, instead of accepting his fate, when he
killed Cunegonde's two lovers.  At this point one begin...

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