Ethical Dilemmas In Candide

A confrontation that Candide has is with a slave outside the town of Surinam after he has left El Dorado. While talking to the man he learns that “when we work at the sugar-canes, and the mill snatches hold of a finger, they cut off the hand; and when we attempt to run away, they cut off the leg; both cases have happened to me. This is the price at which you eat sugar in Europe.” After learning of this “abomination” he renounces his optimism that he has held onto through other horrible situations that have happened to him. It seems that only once he saw the misfortunes of others could he see that “ Certainly, if all things are good, it is in El Dorado and not in the rest of the world.” The ethical challenge that I experienced while reading
She stood firm on that regard until the lady’s she was with started speaking of “the subject of self-sacrifice. Ancient examples were quoted” many of them were of women using their charms on men to achieve what they want. The ladies’ then go on to say how “They held up to admiration all those women who from time to time have arrested the victorious progress of conquerors, made of their bodies a field of battle.” Faced with this believed support Boule de Suif gave into the commander. After she is shunned by everyone for doing what they wanted, because she is now “the unclean contact,” which in turn leaves “Boule de Suif still wept, and sometimes a sob she could not restrain” In this confrontation with the ladies and the officer she goes from an independent, strong woman to a crying, disgraced woman. The challenge with Boule de Suif is that I must try and not choose a side while reading. For me to understand and comprehend the message the author is trying to convey, I have to look at both sides objectively. You must look at the story for the time it is written, the country, and how the characters are laid out before we reach the confrontation. As a reader you know more than the character so when looking at it from Boule de Suif’s point of view, they ladies are encouraging her and will still be her friends. When as
He learns of her ex-love that died just so he could see her one last time. This leads to Gabriel thinking about his life with his wife and other people in his life. “Locked in her heart for so many years that image of her lover’s eyes when he had told her that he did not wish to live.Generous tears filled Gabriel’s eyes. He had never felt like that himself towards any woman, but he knew that such a feeling must be love.” This is where he realizes that he hasn’t truly loved anyone in his life and he becomes completely saddened by it “tears gathered more thickly in his eyes.” He decides that he must have a change in his world possible to understand too but he must go into the west to do this. My challenge with reading this story is trying to comprehend where he is coming from and why he makes some of the decisions he makes. The author does a great job of giving you Gabriel’s thoughts during the story but the why of some of his actions is not there, so readers are left to interpret the why. While interpreting the why I must remember that author isn’t going to tell you explicitly you must read the clues in the story. The story doesn’t lend itself to easy interpretation because the author has written in free indirect discourse so that makes the characters harder to understand. While reading I would look at the different scenarios that