Similarities Between The Last Chapter Of Candide

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In the first and last chapters of Candide, there can be similarities drawn between the events that happen to Candide in the two gardens within the story compared to Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. One of the main points is in the first chapter, Candide gets kicked out of Westphalia for kissing Cunegonde. In comparison, Adam and Eve are kicked out of the Garden of Eden for eating the forbidden fruit and having sex. Both acts were forbidden in both stories, and they are banned from their homelands. Even between the first and last chapters of Candide, he and his friends go through many hardships which can be similar to the struggles that mankind because of Original Sin in the Garden of Eden. In the last chapter Candide buys a farm and has a garden of his own. This garden can be the “garden of man”, in which mankind must learn to live with the sins of …show more content…

The philosopher, Pangloss has a certain belief that all things happen for the very best. “It is clear, said he, that things cannot be otherwise than they are, for since everything is made to serve an end, everything necessarily serves the best end.” (Voltaire, 1.425). This takes after the philosopher Leibniz, whose philosophical look on the world was optimism. In the story, the princess Cunegonde saw Pangloss having a sexual encounter in the garden (little woods) outside the castle. “...she saw clearly the doctor’s sufficient reason, observed both cause and effect,...” (Voltaire, 1. 425). After she saw this Cunegonde wanted to do the same actions with Candide. This can be compared to the snake in the Garden of Eden, and how it tempted Adam and Eve to eat the fruit. Candide and Cunegonde then kiss, which is forbidden and Candide gets banned by the baron. Just as Adam and Eve are caught after eating the forbidden fruit and are then banned from the Eden. In both stories the couples commit lustrous acts and then have a hard life from then

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