The punishments dealt to Candide are rather ill fitting in my opinion. His first punishment was his banishment from the castle because Cunegonde kissed him. This was extremely unfitting- the kiss was innocent and inspired by their ignorance to the realm of romance. Then he was forced into joining a militia and when he tried to leave he was condemned to nearly endless flogging. In terms of the auto-da-fe he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. None of his punishments have been just or taught him anything other than that perhaps Pangloss's teaching were not true. It seems that every time he is punished the punishment manages to get him into more trouble and lead to more punishment. The banishment led to the flogging and the auto-da-fe led him to reunite with Cunegonde and kill two men. The severe punishments Candide has been given have taught him that when something goes wrong he had better run or he will be faced with death. So now when Candide does something worthy of punishment he runs instead of staying to face it because the punishment will be irrationally harsh.
So (yes I'm a twelve year old girl from Libetyville) no, I don't think the punishments fit the crimes.
I agree that the punishments don't fit the crime. Perhaps this is a tool used by Candide to make a statement counter to the acceptance of everything under God's hand as just and perfect. Interesting point about the punishment's effect on Candide's flight mentality and corrupted view of the world. Ironically, maybe the harsh punishments are for the best because they are helping correct Candide's skewed view of the world from Pangloss' teachings.
ReplyDeleteI fully agree that Candide's punishments don't fit his crimes, with that said that is from our point of view in our society. Had we lived back then, we may have turned a blind eye to his harsh punishments. I also like abbey's point on how his punishments are helping him realize that Pangloss's teachings are false, so whip him good!
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