Violence In Cunegone

Violence is an aura surrounding all people in everything they do, physical and mental. People are constantly at war either with themselves or others over things sometimes simply resolved and others resolved by hundreds of bloody battles. War has existed our entire history, before humans even roamed the Earth. Animals naturally fight to protect what is theirs and to gain power, just as humans do. Throughout Candide, the protagonist expresses many instinctive acts of violence in the face of threat in order to protect something; the instinct expressed exists among all competitive humans living now.
As Candide continues his search for freedom and his love, Cunegonde, the violent intuition of his being begins to surface as he commits murder over …show more content…
He states, "The theory proposes that, over evolutionary history, humans have repeatedly encountered a wide range of situations in which the benefits of killing another person outweighed the costs — particularly when the assessed costs of murder are low, success is likely and other non-lethal options have been closed off. The killing of an unwanted child or the stealthy murder of a sexual rival might be examples" (Jones). The belief that people weigh the benefits can explain why so many wars were fought over lands, kingdoms, borders, etc. It was all for the power that came with the victory, loss of life was worth it. In Candide, the cost of killing Cunegode's secured his claim to marry Cunegonde and relieved him of the threat her brother posed on the engagement. A small price to pay for a life with his acclaimed eternal love. Jones also mentions "violence rates are typically plagued by familial feuding and blood revenge, such as in the Scottish highlands in the eighteenth century and Sardinia in the nineteenth. The death toll was frequently exacerbated by cultures laying weight on a male strength in arms and a willingness to demonstrate it". Though he may not realize it, Candide demonstrates revenge of the hurt inflicted on Cunegonde when he committed his first two murders. This reason for violence seems to be the most common among humans in the modern world. Competition is inflicted in everyday events such as work or school, and a loss causes many to lose control and lash out. Violence is an emotion in the limbic system controlled by a cerebral cortex, something women have thicker than men (Jones). Women are better able to control their instincts and keep violence to a minimum; however, men lash out easily (Candide) when faced with anger or protective