Physical Journey in Candide

Candide Journey

The Importance of Journey in Candide

In Voltaire's Candide, the titular protagonist and his companions go on many journeys to many different lands, some intentional and some less so. These journeys are highly important to the structure and nature of the novel, in more ways than one. First of all, they are standard and stereotypical devices that Voltaire purposefully satirizes and also brilliantly makes use of. They also relate directly to the philosophies that Voltaire has his characters discuss during the course of the novel, and are essential for illustrating and demonstrating many of his points. They also play a symbolic importance in the development of each of the characters. These journeys are essential to the story of Candide for reasons of narrative, philosophy, and symbolism.

There are several reasons that the journeys are essential for the narrative. Candide's first journey, following his banishment from the castle, is the inciting incident of the tale, and necessary to shake up his world so that he can struggle to restore balance to it. In addition, the complexities and multitude of characters that Voltaire introduces would have become even more improbable if they had all taken place in a single setting; there are simply to many diverse elements that Voltaire wanted to bring into the work. Finally, such travel was stereotypical of romance/adventure novels of the day, a fact which Voltaire skewered mercilessly through the extent of travel that occurs in the pages of Candide.

The journeys that Candide and the others undergo are also very important from a philosophical standpoint. One of the major premises of the novel is that Candide and Pangloss' philosophy -- really just Pangloss' philosophy, and Candide's only because he remains too innocent throughout most of novel to know anything else -- that his world is the best of all possible worlds is being tested, again and again. It is by seeing the multitude of "worlds" that this world has to offer, as well as the singularity of this world when the many different places and people encountered in the novel are taken as a whole, that this philosophy can be tested, and this is exactly what occurs for Candide. He clearly comes away from his experiences on the journey with a different attitude than the apparently unflappable Pangloss; this journey allowed Candide to test his philosophy in a practical manner, and he found that it came up wanting.