Chapter 13: As the story returns
to the present, Candide and Cunégonde agree with the woman that she has suffered more than anyone else
on the ship. Next, Candide muses to himself, oddly enough, that he wishes Pangloss were present
so that he could "politely" object to his master's optimistic philosophy. This brief admission
is very significant, for it marks a serious change in Candide's already shifting belief in optimism.
After reaching Buenos Aires, Candide
and company quickly encounter the governor, Don Fernando d'Ibaraa y Figueoa y Mascarenes y Campourdos
y Souza. Voltaire purposefully exaggerates his name in order to satirize the man, and the presumptuousness
of the nobility in general. It soon becomes evident that the governor, as expected, is rude and
arrogant, as he aggressively pursues Cunégonde's hand in marriage after merely seeing the girl's beauty.
Startled by the sudden arrival of
the police, hot on Candide's trail, the old woman urges Cunégonde to earn a life of luxury by marrying
the governor.
Chapter 14: In this chapter, the
reader, for the first time, meets Cacambo, a servant/friend of sorts to Candide who has come from Spain.
Fleeing the authorities who are in the process of boarding the ship, Candide and Cacambo hurriedly flee
to Paraguay, though Candide regrets having to leave his lover behind.
As they enter the country, Cacambo explains to Candide
that Paraguay is owned and run by the Jesuits, Los Padres. According to Camambo, Paraguay is a
utopia. Los Padres are reasonable and just, though they are at war with the Spaniards in this
hemisphere and "send them to heaven" in Europe. Here, obviously, Voltaire satirizes the Jesuits
for their hypocritical and corrupt religious war, as they slaughter in the New World the very people
they baptize and bury in the Old World.
As Candide and his servant enter a Jesuit outpost of some kind, the guards arrest the pair, treating
them almost as prisoners. When they realize that Candide is German, however, the soldiers quickly
change their tune, instead treating Candide and his friend like royalty. Having been taken to
their commander, Candide soon realizes that this man is the baron's son, Cunégonde's brother, who was
reportedly killed by the Bulgars.
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