Thursday, October 11, 2012

Candide's Punishments, Do They Fit the Crime

Candide has committed many crimes. I believe he was punished justly for some, and he was also not punished enough for others. For instance, he greedily took the jewels from Eldorado to bring to the outside world for the use of living in luxury. To me, taking those rocks in use for profit somewhat tainted the innocence and purity they had in Eldorado. He was justly punished by eventually losing it all to nature and even greedier people. Nature was taking the jewels back when the sheep carrying them were starving and falling off cliffs into their deaths. Candide's greed manifested the crime, so even greater greed served the punishment via the sailors/pirates.
An instance where Candide escaped punishment was when he killed the Commandant and the two monkeys. He was going to be killed by angry cannibals but he was let free because he killed the cannibals' enemy. He went unpunished even though he murdered three beings. Simple logic would obviously suggest that a killer should be killed. Should killing your predator's enemy make up for killing your predator's kin? I don't know.

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