BOHOL ISLAND STATE UNIVERSITY- BILAR CAMPUS

TEACHER EDUCATION LABORATORY HIGHSCHOOL

SUBMITTED BY:
JAMES LAURENCE C. OMAC

SUBMITTED TO:
MA. LORELIE G. ARAIS
 Candide

Candide , a cunning satire which pretends to adopt the theory that "all is for the best in
the best of all possible worlds", then skillfully and hilariously destroys it, was written by
Francois Marie Arouet (known as Voltaire) and was published on 1759 in Paris, France.

Candide, a fairly intellegent yet simple young man who lived in a fine castle of his
lordship the Baron Von Thunder- then - Tronckh, was literally kicked out of his childhood home
when caught kissing the Baron's daughter, Lady Cungonde.

Though he was expelled from his earthly paradise, he still believes the teaching of his
tutor Dr. Pangloss that "all us for the best... in this best of all possible worlds". Away from his
home, series of misfortunes were suffered by Candide. Candide was recruited into the Bulgarian
Army, where he was abused and almost executed before escaping to Holland.

He landed in the hands of a kindly Anabaptist named James which cleaned him up and
gave him food. When he was in Holland, he met a beggar with a pox all over his body, he
learned that it was his teacher, Dr. Pangloss. The philosopher told him that the fair castle of the
Baron was attacked by the Bulgarian Army killing the baron, baroness, and his beloved
Cungonde. Pangloss was cured of his illness, and he departed with the Anabaptist and Candide
to Lisbon. In their route, they were shipwrecked, killing the Anabaptist. Candide and Dr.
Pangloss hardly reached shore before experiencing a massive earthquake.

In their stay in Lisbon, Pangloss was executed for his beliefs and Candide was beaten
for approving and believing it. Suddenly, Candide was reunited with Cungonde, who survived
the murder attempt told by Dr. Pangloss and was now a servant of two men including sexual
advances for them. Candide killed the men and escaped with Cungonde and an old woman to
Buenos Aires. There, the governor of Buenos Aires proposed to Cunegonde and, knowing of her
financial situation, she accepted it. On the other hand, Candide was pursued by the authorities for
murder, he promised to Cunegonde that he will marry her and find her again before escaping
with his new friend Cacambo. Candide and Cacambo travelled for several months and ended up
in the Utopian land of El Dorado. While they recognized that the country was perfect, Candide
was dedicated to find and marry Cungonde and Cacambo was restless. With the help of the
scientist in El Dorado, the two men departed the country loaded with golds and jewels. Cacambo
departs for Buenos Aires to buy Cungonde from the governor, and they plan to reunite in
Venice. After having most of his wealth stolen, Cacambo went to France with a hired companion
named Martin. For a long time they couldn't find Cacambo and Cungonde. Finally, one night
Cacambo appeared and said that Cungonde was in Turkey.

Everyone leaves for Turkey, they found Cungonde and the old woman and bought
their freedom. Candide discovered that Dr. Pangloss survived the execution and was working in
a galley. He also found Cungonde's brother and freed both of them. Candide married
Cungonde, but Cungonde was unattractive and everyone was unhappy since in the first place
Candide liked her only because of her beauty. Their lives were terrible until they buy a small
farm on which they spend their days doing hard work, which somehow makes them happy.
 Review

Candide, which means "optimism" is indeed a great masterpiece of the author, Voltaire.
I observed that the book contains comedy and philosophical parody. The author wrote the story
disastrously yet manage to accumulate his wit on it. In this work, he uses the story and characters
to explore the world to suffer from several disasters and their ability to cope with misfortunes in
life.

The author wrote the story simple, brief and sharp, which means that the book is easy
to understand because of the less use of fancy prose. The author makes fun of everything,
including sex. For example, the old woman is lacking butt cheek because, while working as
prostitute, some hungry guards chopped it off and ate it. The book shows how women were
being treated before, where they were victims of rape and hideous sexual assault.

The book also shows what really love can do to our lives. Just like Candide, his burning
love and attraction to Lady Cunegonde is the driving force of his journey in the story. He
pursued his love including abandoning the paradise of El Dorado, committing murders and
avoiding capture and execution. Voltaire really showed that love will keep us alive, based on
what the protagonist Candide did in the story.

The story is also historical just like the massive earthquake that hit Lisbon and the
epidemic syphilis that is viral in those days. There were also many biblical and mythical
allusions in the work, including several references to Garden of Eve and the new testaments.

I think the main point of this story is to measure how optimistic and positive are we in
terms of facing series of misfortunes in life. The ability of a person in coping up challenges is
being measured by his decisions throughout unfortunate events.

In overall, Candide is a must read book because you'll really have fun because the
author is very witty. It will also enhance your vocabulary and will motivate you to be optimistic
despite of struggles in life