“I killed the king of Moab; punctured his balloon stomach with my knife; the rolls of skin-covered lard ate the blade, the hilt and my stiff hand with it. It was warm inside his flesh. Warm and wet; I felt dense objects slip against my knuckles. A moment passed before I realized what was happening,…
Candide: The Path to Contentment
What is the meaning of life? Can mankind find genuine serenity or contentment on Earth? Voltaire’s work begs these questions at every point in the story of Candide. Through the extensive and outlandish life story of the protagonist, Voltaire addresses many eighteenth-century ideas, including optimism, rationalism, and general skepticism. While it is difficult to extract Voltaire’s…