Voltaire's Idea Of Candide

Voltaire’s Candide explores many philosophical ideas in its interesting and lengthy text. While there are many concepts and topics Voltaire addresses within this story, a notable topic that is touched upon would be Candide’s decision to leave the land of El Dorado and return to the outside world, ultimately settling down in a Turkish garden. Voltaire’s decision to have Candide return to society is a commentary on Man’s necessity to cultivate his own destiny. Voltaire brings Candide to the utopia of El Dorado to expose Candide to a place where a person could easily and quietly live out the rest of their life. The initial introduction to the land of El Dorado describes a place where the land “was tended for pleasure as well as profit; everywhere

The duo learn a brief history of El Dorado from the man, and also learn that the inhabitants are forbidden from ever leaving the kingdom which has “preserved our innocence and our happiness” (382); this is an important fact to note, for although the people are generally happy, they are ignorant of the outside world and of the value of their surroundings. The ignorance and happiness of the people could be seen as an allusion to the garden of Eden. Although Candide and Cacambo spend a month in this utopia, they are eager to return to society; Candide to reunite with Cunegonde, and both with the desire to assume more wealth than any man with the El Doradan pebbles and with tales of their time

All the hardships Candide encounters, after leaving El Dorado with enough gold and jewels to make himself and Cacambo richer than almost any one person, he has nothing “left but his little farm” (411). His days are spent arguing with Pangloss and Martin “over metaphysics and morals” but also encountering severe boredom in between these arguments (411). After a point in time, Candide, Martin and Pangloss decide to visit “a very famous dervish, who was said to be the best philosopher in Turkey; they went to ask his advice” (411). This dervish wants nothing to do with the group and slams the door in their faces after a few questions, which leads them to run into an old man at his own doorstep (411). The men are then invited inside the man’s home, served sherbets made by the family and have their beards perfumed by the man’s daughters (412). Candide asks the man about his property and the man tells the trio “I have only twenty acres … I cultivate them with my children, and the work keeps us from the three great evils, boredom, vice, and poverty” (413). It is this conversation that sparks realization to Candide that “we must cultivate our garden” (412). All members of the household begin to take up tasks to become productive people and Pangloss would muse to Candide about how the sequence of events lead them to their current fortune; Candide responded “[t]hat is very well put … but we must