So far we have seen Candide do many
horrible things, one of them being that he had killed two men. Now, the funny
thing is, when the Governor asks if Cunégonde was the captain’s wife, he was
debating whether he should say yes or say she was his sister. Except he decided
not to because, “his soul was too pure to commit such treason against truth”. I
thought it was a little strange that lying is the limit, while killing two men
is still somehow acceptable to him. There was a lot of absurdity there and a little ironic that he is willing to kill than lie.
As I kept reading, there was an
interesting thing that the old woman said, “…misfortunes bring some
privileges…” when Cunégonde asked her if she should marry the Governor. This
sentence has a lot of meaning to it. Even if you have been through a lot of
trouble and problems, there is something good that can come out of it. You can
learn something or become a stronger person.
Lastly, a quote that I found very
exaggerated but also absurd was when the old women said, “…the governor loves
you so violently”. Did the Governor and Cunégonde not just meet a couple hours ago? He met her when
she got off the boat, and immediately decided they should get married the next
day, no matter what the church said. I do not think that it was love that the
old woman was talking about. It was more the fact that he liked her because of
her appearances and he wanted her for himself. Also, the use of the word
violently was a little odd. How do you love somebody violently?
So true. That is very strange how Candide thinks lying is terrible and murder is...ok. I also find it very funny. This might be Voltaire's way of showing how messed up Candide really is. How his priorities are arranged in the weirdest of manner. The more I think about it Lady Cunégonde also seems to be a little off. She loved Candide so dearly and then she all of a sudden wants to turn the love of her life down for someone she just met.
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