Society on the Hands of Wealth

While in the first chapters we saw Voltaire constantly criticizing optimism, I believe he is now making a point on pessimism. Martin, a man Candide found in Surinam keeps on finding the bad side of everything. This however, doesn’t bother me as much as optimism because he says he has never found the good part to anything due to the fact that his life is miserable. I understand him and even though it gives you a feeling of depression I prefer him than Dr. Pangloss’ optimism.

Moreover, what I really want to talk about in this blog is how as I read some chapters I couldn’t stop thinking about a book I read in 8^th grade called The Pearl by John Steinbeck. Long story short: there is a very poor family whose son is stung by a scorpion and they don’t have enough money so the doctor refuses to see them. However the father finds the biggest and prettiest pearl ever seen. When the doctor hears that the father found this pearl he immediately goes and tries to cure the baby. The baby is already healthy by a homemade remedy but the parents don’t know this so the doctor tricks them. At the end he gets greedy and finally he accidentally kills his own baby. The resemblance between this book and Candide is that when Candide got sick, the doctor instantly went to help him. “As he wore an enormous diamond ring on his finger, and a prodigiously heavy cash-box had been noticed amongst his luggage, he was soon attended by two doctors whom he had not send for…”(Pg. 97) just like in The Pearl the doctors show their interest and how greedy they are. They will only help others if they have enough money to be paid. For the record, I am not criticizing all doctors. No. Actually I admire them. However, we must not deny societies before and now a days work like that. Benefiting only the ones who can afford it. And its not only doctors it’s everyone.

After being in such a heavenly place, like Eldorado, they start facing reality again, first being stolen by a Dutch captain, and then finding a slave who his own mother sold into slavery. Then being tragically getting his hand “chopped off” and one leg. The first one while working on a factory, the second one as he was trying to escape. Here Candide once again looses all faith and questions Dr. Pangloss and optimism: “Oh Pangloss! A scandal like this never occurred to you! But it’s the truth, and I shall have t renounce that optimism of yours in the end.” (Pg. 86)

 The contrast in which Voltaire shows us both societies is huge. I mean, in one place people have all the riches in the world however they are so simple they don’t need them, on the other, everyone either has a lot or has nothing but both have the need for more.