Cándido: Voltaire philosophical story
The old woman suffers from an unbearable and miserable life. In chapter VII he mentions that he contemplated suicide multiple times "but despite everything he loved life". The old woman represents the uselessness of dogmas and threats in religious institutions, since they are not those that determine the actions of people. The old woman did not believe in gods and contemplated suicide, despite the fact that she was considered a sin and was punished with eternal hell. Your same father committed a sin by having sex and later having a bastard daughter. Thus, Voltaire through the farce, demonstrates that dogmas do not promote an absolute moral orientation.
It is important to emphasize that Voltaire uses his novel to criticize the trivialities of religious institutions and not to religions themselves, since Voltaire himself was a deist. This can be observed when in El Dorado, Cándido and a wise hold a conversation about the different customs and cultures in the mythical place. Here, the old man presents an ideal religion, where he loves a single god day and night and there is a only religion. To which Cándido responds:
-How! Do not have friars to teach, discuss, govern, organize intrigues and send the bonfire to those who do not think like them?
-Menester would be that we were crazy-the old man replied;Here we are all of the same opinion and we do not understand what your friars mean.
The religion represented in El Dorado did not consist of complex dogmas, threats or some type of protocol, rite or ceremony, religion consists of a philosophy and simple, without great institutions or complex orders. Only love to your God. The religion that Eldorado people had was much simpler than any of the European religions. Voltaire talked about this religion to show how the clergy was unnecessary and sometimes even harmful, and how a simple religion could be somewhat beneficial for humanity.
Voltaire also attacked the traditional religion of the time by showing the benefits of a better religion. Voltaire filled his criticism novel towards religious prejudices, attacked the corruption of the clergy and attacked the complexity of religion by showing the benefits of a simpler religion.
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