Isolation In Night By Elie Wiesel

By the end of Voltaire’s Candide, Candide found a solution to his problems once he isolated himself from the outside world. In Night, Elie Wiesel was driven by isolation to have the strength to survive the Holocaust. In the novels, both Candide and Elie used isolation as a mechanism for their survival. Candide isolated himself from a malicious world, and that world force isolations on Elie Wiesel. Ultimately these men find peace in being alone. Throughout the novel, Candide and his companions are faced with turmoil and surrounded by tragic events, but at no point do they find a solution for what is happening to them. Pangloss stated only that, “[t]hings cannot be otherwise than as they are; for all being created for an end, all is necessarily

In the city of El Dorado the people are at peace and living with all of their needs accounted for, it is the definition of a utopia. The people are not greedy, and no one is fighting for power. The secret of the city, and the way they maintain their peace is through their isolation. The old man of El Dorado tells Candide and Camcabo, “More wise by far were the princes of their family, who remained in their native country; and they ordained, with the consent of the whole nation, that none of the inhabitants should ever be permitted to quit this little kingdom; and this has preserved our innocence and happiness.” (Voltaire 43). The old man clearly states that the way to maintain peace and happiness is to stay isolated from the world that is filled with dark-hearted men. He also says that the man who can do that is wise. This was the seed that was planted into Candide’s heart that to survive the world he lived in he would need to preserve his happiness through

Candide is worn down by the travesties that have happened to him and to his companions, and he decides to remove himself from that world. Although Pangloss still quotes his “best of all possible worlds” philosophy, “he no longer believed it” (Voltaire 85). Candide is further assured of his decision when they hear how the Turk remains at peace. Simply put he and his family work hard to cultivate the land (Voltaire 86). Candide see how content this man is and compares him to the men who continued to strive for power. He says to Pangloss, “This honest Turk seems to be in a situation far preferable to that of the six kings with whom we had the honour of supping” (Voltaire 86). Candide is realizing that if he wants to survive in the world he was born into he must separate himself from the people grasping for power. He understands that he would either have to fight his was to the top or be trampled in the process. Instead Candide choose to remove himself completely, and this is why at the end he says they should, “cultivate our garden”(Voltaire