Candide Character Analysis

Voltaire’s Candide seems to display a world of horror, one filled with floggings, rapes, robberies, unjust executions, disease, natural disasters, betrayals and cannibalism. Pangloss, the philosopher, has a constant optimistic view throughout the entire novel even despite all of the cruelty in the world. While looking back on the book I couldn’t think of many characters that displayed admirable qualities. Even though Pangloss stuck to his views that everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds, which is admirable, he is stupid and naive to still believe this after everything he and his family goes through. It was quite hard for me to find admirable characters within Voltaire’s Candide, all of the characters seemed to do harm to one another in some way. Although as soon as James or Jacques, the Anabaptist, is introduced to us he seems different then any other character so far.

Most of the people Candide meet throughout his journey are mean and cause him harm but Jacques is kind right from the beginning. In Chapter three Jacques carries Candide, someone who he had never met, into his home, washed him, gave him food and employs him in his rug factory. Jacque’s kindness revives Candide’s faith in Pangloss’s theory that everything is for the best in this world. Candide was so moved by Jacques he threw himself to his feet and cried, “Now I am convinced that my master Pangloss told me truth when he said that everything was for the best in this world; for I am infinitely more touched by your extraordinary generosity... “ (Ch. 3 Pg. 19).

Jacques seems to be the only good-natured character in the whole book. His actions are kind and most admirable. Jacques finds a doctor to cure Pangloss, who loses an eye and an ear to syphilis. He even hires Pangloss as his bookkeeper and takes Candide and Pangloss on a business trip to Lisbon. Jacques disagrees with Pangloss’s belief that this is the best of worlds and claims that “men have somehow corrupted Nature.” He said God never gave men weapons, but men created them “in order to destroy themselves.”

Mankind, must in some things have deviated from their original innocence; for they were not born wolves, and yet they worry one another like those beasts of prey. God never gave then twenty-four pounders nor bayonets, and yet they have made cannon and bayonets to destroy one another. To this list I might add not only bankruptcies, but the law which seizes on the effects of bankrupts, only to cheat the creditors (Ch. 4 Pg. 23).

The Anabaptist Jacques is a notable exception. He is one of the most generous and human characters in the novel, but he is also realistic about human faults. Jacques acknowledges the cruelty, greed and violence of mankind, but still offers kind and meaningful charity to anyone who needs it. His charity isn’t just limited to people he is familiar with even, he reaches his hand out to strangers in the street, a truly admirable characteristic. Jacques is unlike Pangloss, the philosopher who hesitates when the world requires him to take action. Jacques studies both human nature and more importantly, acts to influence it, a combination Voltaire seems to see as ideal but very rare.

On their way to Lisbon Jacques tries to save a sailor who almost falls overboard. He saves the sailor but falls overboard and the sailor, who he had just saved, does nothing to help him. Although Jacques dies shortly after he is introduced to us his appearance helps us to see that there is some good in the world, it is just rare. His death might possibly have been to represent Voltaire’s criticism of the belief that evil is always balanced by good. Jacques is good and looses his life while saving the sailor who is selfish and evil. This doesn’t seem like a balance but a situation of evil surviving good.

Although Jacques is by far the most admirable character in the book, the “old woman” is also admirable. The old woman’s story was overwhelming. She is the daughter of Pope Urban X and the princess of Palestrina. She was raised with much wealth, yet does not behave like she was. At fourteen, during her wedding her lover’s mistress killed him with a poisoned drink. She went with her mother to their estate in Gaeta. On the way pirates boarded the ship and raped the women and sailed to Morocco to sell them as slaves. There was a war going on in Morocco and the pirates were attacked, the old woman saw her mother and maids of honor ripped apart by men. She somehow survived, fell asleep under a tree and woke up to an Italian man trying to rape her. She met a country man who had once served at her mother’s palace he promised to take her back to Italy but took her to Algiers and sold her to the prince. She was then sold several times and ended up owned by a Muslim