Dialectical Journal #3: Candide

Passages From The Text	Pg #	Comments & Questions
“‘What is this place,' said one to the other, ‘which is unknown to the rest of the world and where nature of things is so different from ours? It’s probably the place where all goes well, for there absolutely must be such a place. And whatever Maitre Pangloss might have said, I often observed that everything went rather badly in Westphalia.”’	47	(R) I’m not sure, but I think Candide may be growing as a character. At the very beginning of this book he believed his country-Westphalia-to be the best of all places and whatnot but here he admits that it is not that great. I also think that Voltaire might be trying to tell the audience something with this scene. Candide is currently in Eldorado, a fictional place, and is essentially saying that this might be the “best of all possible worlds”. Perhaps Voltaire is saying believing that this world is the best of them all as delusional as the belief that Eldorado exists? Even if there is a best of all worlds, why would this one be it? What other worlds are we comparing ours’ to? I can kind of understand why Voltaire would feel so moved to write a satire about that sentiment. This book has gotten a little better. It’s still pretty weird and creepy though. (This woman got one of her butt cheeks eaten!)