CKQ+Andrew

Why is this not the best of all possible worlds? But, at the same time, Candide is not an entirely hopeless novel. What 'rays of hope' do you see? As you post your responses to the key question also mention 'rays of hope' that you see in the novel.

Sadly during the first few chapters of 4-12 it was difficult for me to find some rays of hope. The first ray I found unfortunately was too direct. Candide encounters Cunégonde! Although the situation outside does not seem so happy but this encounter with Cunégonde gives hope to Candide. It is not just physical hope by curing and providing a good meal. It is the presence of Cunégonde herself that is giving the hope. From Candide, Voltaire directly reveals the arrival(?) of Cunégonde as a good omen. In Chapter 7, page 18 the narrator states “ What a surprise! It was as if he was looking at Mademoiselle Cunégonde. But he was indeed looking at Mademoisellf Cunégonde, for it was she!”. Thankfully, Voltaire is emphasizing this surprising event of Cunégonde by using exclamation marks exaggerating it to seem like a good omen. This obviously can act as a optimistic event signaling good occurrence that will happen in the future.

Again, sadly, my hope did not come true. Two Jews, who are suspected to have raped Cunégonde, arrived in order and are killed by Candide. This is when the questioning of optimism is at the peak. Cunégonde and Candide lost all their jewels. Candide is truly sad about the fact that he no longer has a source of money. This implies that Candide is not 100% confident about the optimistic beliefs of Pangloss, since according to Pangloss’s teaching he should be happy and the world would turn out well. Cunégonde and Candide tried to escape to some region in South America. This journey or an adventure can be also portrayed as a ray of hope having them to think optimistic about the future events.