Motifs

=Motifs =

1. One of the primary motifs in Candide is torture (of many sorts, including rape, murder, etc.). The most significant point that this motif makes is that the world is not for the best because people, guilty and innocent alike, are constantly being tortured. For example, the castle in Westphalia is raided, despite the fact that no one there seemed to be doing anything wrong. Examples like this, where the innocent are harmed, prove that this cannot be the “best of all possible worlds” if there is no sense of justice.

2. The old woman’s missing buttock is another motif in Candide. She first mentions it when telling her story, and it is brought up again when they decide to sell one of the horses, and she must ride with Candide. This is significant because it is a reminder of her past life, full of terrors. Perhaps one of the points this reminder makes is that even when one escapes from a tortured life, one can never be rid of it.

3. Another motif in Candide is showing corruption in religion. For example, the old woman was said to be the daughter of Pope Urban X. Despite the fact that this pope is fictional, it still shows corruption because popes cannot have children. Another example is when Candide is in Holland, and the preaching man asks if he thinks that the pope is the Antichrist. The man thought this was so, and it shows that there was not unity or belief in the church, as ideally there should have been.