Many characters affected the growth of Candide. While Pangloss and Cacambo impacted Candide in a positive way, Martin did not. Pangloss kept pushing Martin to have hope and believe that there will always be a good ending, and Martin just kept wanting him to give up and realize that life isn’t perfect. All coming from completely different backgrounds really gave Candide some perspective on the world. Half of my childhood I lived in Vegas and the other half I lived in Michigan. I went through so many friends, and each and everyone had an influence on me. When you spend so much time with a person, you start to be like them. You can not help it, but their personality and beliefs start to rub off on you. Having Pangloss be his tutor and being an
…show more content…
Martin was the unfortunate scholar who had many problems in his life, and he believed that there was no point to living. His philosophy was that there was no good in the world, making him a pessimist. Even though being a pessimist isn 't usually the best view on life, that was the best character to influence Candide. He enlightened him because Candide lived his life thinking that everything would be okay, he needed to learn that sometimes life isn 't okay and not everything has a perfect ending.“ ‘You’re a bitter man,’ said Candide. ‘That’s because i’ve lived’ ” (Voltaire 102). When Candide pointed out that Martin was a bitter man, he replied with that because he had such a hard life, being robbed by his wife, beaten by his son, denied his job, and persecuted by the Church, he did not really have much to be happy about. “ ‘But for what purpose was the earth formed?’ asked Candide. ‘To drive us mad,’ replied Martin ”(Voltaire 105). Candide tries not to listen to Martin, even though he can make a very compelling argument. Candide needed a person like Martin in his life, he was the exact opposite of Pangloss. When you keep believing that everything will be okay, at the end you will be crushed if things don 't turn out how you expected, which is why Martin was the best influence on Candide. “ ‘Do you believe, ' said Martin, 'that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them?”(Voltaire 107). This quote was said when Candide was asking Martin if he thinks that humans were all born evil, but instead it was life that had made them like that. Martin says that just like how hawks hunt pigeons, humans would have been liars, murders, (etc.) from the
Martin was the unfortunate scholar who had many problems in his life, and he believed that there was no point to living. His philosophy was that there was no good in the world, making him a pessimist. Even though being a pessimist isn 't usually the best view on life, that was the best character to influence Candide. He enlightened him because Candide lived his life thinking that everything would be okay, he needed to learn that sometimes life isn 't okay and not everything has a perfect ending.“ ‘You’re a bitter man,’ said Candide. ‘That’s because i’ve lived’ ” (Voltaire 102). When Candide pointed out that Martin was a bitter man, he replied with that because he had such a hard life, being robbed by his wife, beaten by his son, denied his job, and persecuted by the Church, he did not really have much to be happy about. “ ‘But for what purpose was the earth formed?’ asked Candide. ‘To drive us mad,’ replied Martin ”(Voltaire 105). Candide tries not to listen to Martin, even though he can make a very compelling argument. Candide needed a person like Martin in his life, he was the exact opposite of Pangloss. When you keep believing that everything will be okay, at the end you will be crushed if things don 't turn out how you expected, which is why Martin was the best influence on Candide. “ ‘Do you believe, ' said Martin, 'that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them?”(Voltaire 107). This quote was said when Candide was asking Martin if he thinks that humans were all born evil, but instead it was life that had made them like that. Martin says that just like how hawks hunt pigeons, humans would have been liars, murders, (etc.) from the