"Cliff Notes - Candide" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cliff Notes)

Like the old woman and Martin, Cacambo is both servant and adviser. Without him Candide would have been lost, either eaten by the Biglugs or executed by the Jesuits. It is Cacambo's resourcefulness that gets Candide out of both situations.

Also like the old woman and Martin he is worldly-wise, never shocked by the strange situations that astonish the naive Candide. When they meet the two girls whose lovers are monkeys, Candide is shocked, while Cacambo is matter-of-fact about the scene. It is possible to see a trace of cynicism in his reactions to events--for example, when he talks the Biglugs out of eating him and Candide.

Cacambo's other outstanding trait is his loyalty. He appears always to act in Candide's best interest. In addition to being Candide's servant and adviser, he is also his friend.

Voltaire treats many serious subjects with irony--that is, he says one thing while expecting you to understand that he means something quite different, often the direct opposite of what he says. (When Voltaire calls Pangloss "the greatest philosopher in the province and consequently in the entire world" in Chapter 1, he is being ironic.) As you study the character of Cacambo, see whether you can find any examples of his loyalty or friendship being questioned or treated ironically. Cacambo never really tells his own story, so you must judge him by his actions and by the author's comments on his actions.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: MARTIN

The last of the major characters is the scholar Martin. Martin is Candide's companion as he journeys from Surinam back to Europe. He accompanies Candide across Europe and settles with him on the farm in Turkey.

Some readers see Martin as a kind of counterweight to Pangloss. Where Pangloss is the advocate of philosophical optimism, Martin is the spokesman for its opposite, a type of philosophical pessimism that believes all is for the worst, or, at best, a cynicism that questions the good motives of others. Pangloss sees everything as being for the best; he in effect denies the presence of evil. Martin, on the other hand, sees evil running rampant in the world. When Candide says to him, in Chapter 20, "Still there is some good," Martin responds, "That may be... but I don't know it."

Other readers see Martin as a spokesman for the more pessimistic side of Voltaire's own philosophy. Voltaire was greatly concerned about the problem of evil in the world. His concern has sometimes been seen as the central point in Candide rather than Voltaire's attempt to satirize the belief in optimism. The problem of evil will be discussed in greater detail in the section on Themes and in the final chapter. For now, you need to know only that the character of Martin is very important in helping you trace the theme of evil. Follow Martin--see whether he changes as the story develops, and, if so, determine how much or how little.

Martin is more complex than most of the other characters in Candide. It is difficult to say whether he is, in fact, a type character. He fills the role of friend and adviser, as do Cacambo and the old woman, but he is also a commentator and evaluator, a confirmed cynic, and a loyal friend.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: YOUNG BARON

Cunegonde's brother is the representative of an overbearing, conceited, privileged aristocracy. He has few personal traits to commend him. He is ungrateful to Candide and would deny his sister her happiness because of Candide's lack of noble birth. Voltaire was opposed to a society that denied men the opportunity to rise in accordance with their merits. The young baron personifies the society that is not receptive to men of talent and honor.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: PAQUETTE

The third female character in Candide, Paquette begins as a servant and becomes a prostitute. Her fall is even more disastrous than Cunegonde's and the old woman's. Paquette is a flirt, but she is also a sympathetic character. When she tells her story, in Chapter 24, she is portrayed more as a victim than as a "bad" woman. Paquette's life is redeemed when she finds her niche on the farm and has productive work to do.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: BROTHER GIROFLEE

Brother Giroflee (also called Friar Giroflee in some translations) is Paquette's lover and companion. Appearing at first as a negative character, a hypocritical monk, he, too, is later portrayed as a victim of a system that forced young men into religious orders at an early age. Brother Giroflee is Voltaire's ironic commentary on what happens to men in such circumstances. He is the main representative of the type of hypocritical, immoral clergy that appears elsewhere in Candide. Like Paquette, he is redeemed when he becomes an honest man through work.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: JACQUES

Jacques (or "James" in some translations) is the representative of the "good man." His benevolence--demonstrated when he helps Candide and Pangloss, clothes the naked, and feeds the hungry--is in direct contrast to the hypocritical preacher of charity in Holland. Jacques practices the Christian virtues that the preacher only talks about.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: POCOCURANTE

Pococurante (from the Italian, "caring little") is a one-sided man of exquisite taste and refinement who derives no pleasure from his possessions. Caring little about anything, he despises everything. He possesses "all the best" but his life is full of boredom and distaste for everything. He voices many of Voltaire's opinions in art and literature, but this "professional critic" is a negative character.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: THE ABBE FROM PERIGORD

Another of the many immoral characters with a religious affiliation, the abbe is Candide's guide to the "pleasures" of Paris. He is a swindler, a hypocrite, a flatterer--the archetype of the parasite, the man who lives off others.

^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: VANDERDENDUR

The thieving merchant, pirate and swindler, he forms a neat contrast to the honest merchant, Jacques. (He is seen by some critics as a caricature of a Dutch publisher by the name of Van Duren with whom Voltaire had experienced some difficulties.)


^^^^^^^^^^CANDIDE: SETTING