Gulliver's Travel And Candide Comparison Essay

“Travel, in the younger sort, is a part of education; in the elder, a part of experience,” Francis Bacon once said. The experience of traveling is educational in multiple ways, causing one to learn about the world and about himself or herself. Many travelers experience events or places or people that change the way they think about their life or their own identity. This occurred frequently in the Modern Era, when exploration and travel increased, increasing contact with other cultures and people. This idea was captured in many pieces of literature from the time, such as Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels and Voltaire’s Candide. Gulliver and Candide both completely changed their opinions of their lives and the world they lived in after traveling around the world and meeting many different people and seeing different ways of life. The contrast between their societies and the societies they encountered helped them realize their discontent with the society they were a part of, causing them to make changes to their way of living. Swift’s Lemuel Gulliver was an Englishman that grew up studying and traveling a lot throughout …show more content…
He was living in a beautiful home with beautiful Lady Cunégonde, listening to “the greatest philosopher… in all the world” (Voltaire 20). He was happy and loved the life he was living. But once he kisses Cunégonde and is kicked out of the home, his life began spiraling downward, and he starts to doubt the idea of this perfect world. As more cruelty and misfortune occurred, Candide “notice[d] that all went badly in Westphalia,” (Voltaire 77), beginning with the Bulgar army. When recruited by the Bulgars, he personally experiences and witnesses incredible violence. The suffering he is subjected to creates doubt in his mind about Pangloss’ theory. This is one of the many situations that tests his ideals. Though he escapes, he comes across more cruelty and violence, once again shaking his