Candide

Candide Wealth and great materialistic possession brings happiness and success to most people’s lives. Although wealth does not always bring happiness, El Dorado was one society where all it’s inhabitants lived lives full of success and happiness. In Candide, wealth proved to guarantee a person a step forward in life and some sense of freedom. Sometimes when one lives in an environment consisting of total equality, one may prefer to leave and go to a different place where they would be considered superior and everyone else inferior to them. The people of El Dorado were so wealthy that they abused the things that they possessed that others would cherish. The children proved this when they were playing at quoits covered with tattered garments of the richest brocade. It is obvious to see that they were so rich that the quoits did not have any significant meaning to them. We were able to see this when upon having to return back to school they left the quoits on the ground along with their other playthings. Candide was surprised to find out that an adult schoolmaster would do the exact same when given these quoits which consisted of gold and precious stones. Candide realized that these children must have been those of a king and he said, " The king’s children in this country must have an excellent education, since they are taught to show such a contempt for gold and precious stones." (49). Another way in which we saw that they were very wealthy was the fact that the common pebbles of their highways were large gold pieces, houses were built of silver and gold, the antechamber was incrusted with rubies and emeralds. I feel that this was not very appropriate. Just because they were wealthy does not mean that the money should be wasted in such a way as to build a highway of these expensive stones, when it could be substituted with a much less expensive material. El Dorado was a place where everyone was extremely happy and satisfied with what they possessed. This place was seen as heaven on earth. It represented a cultural wealth. Everyone here was a priest and priests were considered to be pleasant happy beings. We clearly saw that Cacambo and Candide were very satisfied with their stay here when they said, "Possibly this is that part of the globe where everything is right for there must certainly be some such place." (50). They ...

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...aressed the Theatin with so much fondness, that I absolutely thought you as happy as you say you are now miserable." (67). In my opinion Voltaire was trying to emphasize that there are two different kinds of people in this world, the wealthy and the not so wealthy. I do not feel that he was trying to say that all the time but instead that more than half of the time those who are wealthy live happier and more advanced lives than those less fortunate. In Candide, wealth can get a person anything or person they wanted. The less fortunate had to obey and abide by the rules of those more powerful to them. It was almost like they were slaves to their masters. The wealthy were able to buy their happiness, as the masters and residents of El Dorado did. This is not only proven in Candide. By looking at the real world and our everyday lives we can agree with this theory. It is not hard to see that the famous millionaires in this world live in great beautiful places full of luxuries, and those that are poor such as the homeless have to get by day by day with no or very little food and shelter. In conclusion, wealth brings most people happiness and pride but only to a certain extent.