What Are Cacambo's Embodiment Of The Sidekick Archetype

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In Voltaire’s Candide, several literary devices are used to convey its main theme; the folly of optimism. One of the most prevalent uses of literary devices is how the characters fully embody a character archetype. Generally, the characters of Candide embody certain archetypes to further serve the theme. Specifically, Cacambo’s embodiment of the sidekick archetype serves to highlight the flaws of optimistically following orders without question.
Cacambo is first introduced into the story in Chapter 14 after Candide hires him as a valet. In contrast to Candide, Cacambo is described as a racially mixed, experienced man who is later shown to be levelheaded. Appling this knowledge to the definition of the sidekick archetype, someone who supports the protagonist while acting as a foil to them, it’s apparent that Cacambo’s purpose in the story is to be Candide’s sidekick.
In Chapter 15 of Candide, there is a prime example of Cacambo’s composure and how his subservience to a person akin to Candide is a problem. After Candide murders the Jesuit Baron, he starts to panic. However, Cacambo has an epiphany and uses the clothes from Baron turned Jesuit priest to disguise Candide as an important religious figure. Unfortunately, as he tells the Spanish locals to vacate the area, Cacambo becomes an accessory to the homicide. …show more content…

After being ordered by Candide to head to Buenos Aires with roughly six million dollars’ worth of diamonds (with no protection). Unsurprisingly, Cacambo is robbed of almost all his money and had to pay the rest on an extortion fee by the Governor of Buenos Aires. Now poor and in a foreign country, Cacambo is captured as a slave and sold off to a dethroned sultan in Constantinople. While Candide was able to “[repurchase] Cacambo at an exorbitant price (. . .) [and] flung himself and his companions into a galley,” Cacambo was presumably the sultan’s slave for several months (Voltaire,

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