Candide and Cacambo head out towards Cayenne (capital of French Guiana), only to find themselves battling bad luck along the way. but at every turn there were terrible obstacles in the shape of mountains, rivers, precipices, brigands and savages. Their horses died of fatigue; their provisions ran out; they survived for an entire month on wild fruits, and eventually found themselves by a small river fringed with coconut trees, which kept them alive and sustained their hopes. Cacambo, smart as he is, knows that a river is a life sustaining component of civilization, so naturally if they follow the river, they will find a town. Climbing in a canoe they spied, they allow the currents to take them down river. They find themselves in Eldorado, a sparkling utopia. The ground is littered with gold and gems that the locals view as an everyday rock and are happy to feed the strangers for no payment. They meet a 172-year-old that enlightens them by answering the many questions Candide has for this culture. He specifically asks about their religion, through Cacambo, who translates between the man and Candide. | Tiny and hard to see, but Manoa, o' el Dorado exists just at the top left of the large gray lake (Parime Lacvs). Artist: Hessel Gerritsz Dated: 1625 This work is in the public domain in the United States, and those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years or less. Source: Wikimedia Commons |
'Do you worship only one God?' |
What is this that Pangloss was telling me about castle Thunder-ten-trinckh being the best place on earth? For this Eldorado is changing my thinking, this is clearly the best place on earth. They meet the King, do some sight seeing and stay a month enjoying the hospitality provided by the people of Eldorado. Alas, all is still not well, for Candide can not stop thinking of his dear lovely Cunégonde.
If we remain here, we shall be just like everyone else; but if we return to the old world with only a dozen sheep loaded with Eldoradean pebbles, we shall be richer than all the kings put together, |
Even in utopia, where Candide is provided with what he needs he is still not happy and has greed take over. So the travelers convince the King to set them free out of this land and provide them provisions. 'This is a foolish scheme,' the King told them. 'I am well aware that my country is nothing to write home about; but when you are reasonably happy somewhere, you should stay put....' This land is not meant to be left, so the town must engineer a special machine to lift Candide and Cacambo over the mountain tops. They are hoisted to freedom with their provisions, two large red sheep (llamas) to ride, twenty pack-sheep filled with food provisions and thirty sheep carrying gold, diamonds and trinkets made by the townspeople. This is equivalent to riches beyond anything, enough to buy the world with. Candide has failed to learn an important lesson in life about greed. He loses much of this bounty along the way, although I suspect he does not chalk this up as karma, but just bad luck as he is left with only a pocket-full of stones. He has sent Cacambo off with a sizeable portion of the riches to secure Cunégonde, without a companion, he seeks a new traveler to converse with across the seas as he makes his way to Venice, the appointed meeting place for Cacambo to bring Cunégonde.
'But don't you accept,' replied Martin, 'that hawks have always killed pigeons when they come across them?' - 'Without a doubt,' said Candide. - 'Well, then,' said Martin, 'if hawks have always had the same nature, why do expect men to change theirs?' - ''Oh,' said Candide, 'but there is a crucial difference, because free will ...' Artist: R. Bonnart and H. Bonnart Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France at http://gallica.bnf.fr The content accessible on the Gallica website are mostly digital reproductions of works in the public domain from the collections of the BnF. Reuse is part of Act No. 78-753 of 17 July 1978: [Non-commercial re-use of this content is free] | Candide selected a man named Martin to travel with him. As it turns out he is fascinated by this man's talkings, he is everything Pangloss was not. Instead of sticking to the plan and heading straight to Venice, Candide is stricken ill and the travelers are held up in France. Here Candide is taken advantage of by the locals who see the riches he is tossing about with no care. He has a affaire de cœur with a lady called Marquise de Parolignac. Finally, setting out once again he makes his way to Venice with Martin. He spends the days asking if Cacambo has arrived in town with his beloved Cunégonde. Martin basically tells him, fat chance he is going to show up. You sent him off with half your initial riches, either he never went searching for Cunégonde or if he found her he kept her for himself. Candide cannot imagine such a thing, he trusts Cacambo to do the right thing. Martin tries to prove his point that mankind is not all that it seems on outward appearance by picking a couple out of the crowd that appears to be happy. He tells Candide, they really are not happy, seek them out and see for yourself. Candide sends for the couple, only to find out that the female is Paquette, the chambermaid from Westphalian castle that gave Pangloss his syphilis. Martin is correct, she is not happy and neither is her male companion, Brother Girofleo. Brother Girofleo is a miserable monk forced into the brotherhood by his parents to allow for his brother's fortune to be larger. He pays for Paquette services, but is not happy. Even the large sum of money Candide gave him to try and ease his unhappiness, of course, does not work, as you cannot buy happiness. Will Candide meet Cacambo, and Cunégonde again, or is Martin correct in his assessment of mankind? |
Discussion Question from Exploring Classics, host of Candide read-along, week 3 post.
1. What do you all think about Martin?
While the world is never as black and white as one may like it to be, the contract between Martin, seeing everything as bad, and Pangloss, as seeing all good is apparent. I think Pangloss' rosy glasses approach is a dangerous and ill-advised way to live, all is not good. Martin's may be extreme on the opposite side of the spectrum, however, I would rather approach things a bit more cautiously than to throw caution to the wind. As Cleo on Classical Carrousel said in her post, "If you expect people to be untrustworthy or swindlers or cruel or avaricious, that is what you will start to see and, if you have practiced it to the degree that Martin has, I doubt you would see anything else." Which I agree with as well. Being we are comparing the two extremes between Martin and Pangloss, I have to acknowledge that unfortunately the world is not filled with all good and I have to be mindful of the bad, if I look the other way the consequences could be unpleasant. Granted, as bumbling along as Candide goes, he somehow has landed on his feet, but that has come from the guidance of others at his side. [I, like I'm sure most of us do, look to find a balance in seeing the good and the bad in life.] I wanted to use Eeyore image, but I don't want to tangle with any Disney copyrights, so just imagine him here, ho hum, life is dreary.
2. Does a utopia like Eldorado sound appealing to you?
On the outside and initial thoughts one might think sure, it was safer and one of the more pleasant experiences Candide had to this point. However, the cynical side in me assumes there is more than meets the eye here and all is not well in Eldorado. As there still was a class structure system and a king, which likely will lead to problems if they don't already exist and where just being hidden while they waited to fully envelope Candide into the society. So, while the grass may appear to be greener in Eldorado, I am certain it isn't all gumdrops and lollipops.
1. What do you all think about Martin?
While the world is never as black and white as one may like it to be, the contract between Martin, seeing everything as bad, and Pangloss, as seeing all good is apparent. I think Pangloss' rosy glasses approach is a dangerous and ill-advised way to live, all is not good. Martin's may be extreme on the opposite side of the spectrum, however, I would rather approach things a bit more cautiously than to throw caution to the wind. As Cleo on Classical Carrousel said in her post, "If you expect people to be untrustworthy or swindlers or cruel or avaricious, that is what you will start to see and, if you have practiced it to the degree that Martin has, I doubt you would see anything else." Which I agree with as well. Being we are comparing the two extremes between Martin and Pangloss, I have to acknowledge that unfortunately the world is not filled with all good and I have to be mindful of the bad, if I look the other way the consequences could be unpleasant. Granted, as bumbling along as Candide goes, he somehow has landed on his feet, but that has come from the guidance of others at his side. [I, like I'm sure most of us do, look to find a balance in seeing the good and the bad in life.] I wanted to use Eeyore image, but I don't want to tangle with any Disney copyrights, so just imagine him here, ho hum, life is dreary.
2. Does a utopia like Eldorado sound appealing to you?
On the outside and initial thoughts one might think sure, it was safer and one of the more pleasant experiences Candide had to this point. However, the cynical side in me assumes there is more than meets the eye here and all is not well in Eldorado. As there still was a class structure system and a king, which likely will lead to problems if they don't already exist and where just being hidden while they waited to fully envelope Candide into the society. So, while the grass may appear to be greener in Eldorado, I am certain it isn't all gumdrops and lollipops.
Previous postings: Update 2; Update 1; Opening/Sign-up
Quotes from Edition: Candide, or Optimism, by Voltaire, Translated by Theo Cuffe, Introduction by Michael Wood
Publisher: Penguin Group (2013)
Source: Personal Library
Format Read: Kindle - ASIN: B00EK28X1C
Genres: Classic, Satire
[Notice: Original posting 2014-03-26 at Plethora of Books Blog: http://bookchallenges.weebly.com]
Tags: Read-Alongs; Candide
Quotes from Edition: Candide, or Optimism, by Voltaire, Translated by Theo Cuffe, Introduction by Michael Wood
Publisher: Penguin Group (2013)
Source: Personal Library
Format Read: Kindle - ASIN: B00EK28X1C
Genres: Classic, Satire
[Notice: Original posting 2014-03-26 at Plethora of Books Blog: http://bookchallenges.weebly.com]
Tags: Read-Alongs; Candide