Symbolism of The Garden of Eden in Candide

 At the start of the novel there is a garden. It is similar to the Garden of Eden because it is a place of freedom, serenity, and for the character Candide it is a haven. Candide is a character hard to define. He has many similar traits to Adam, at the start of the story. He is “blessed by nature, with most agreeable manners”. Candide also has “unaffected simplicity”. He also has “unhesitating faith” for his teacher Pangloss. Pangloss is like god, in this context. He was the “greatest philosopher in the world”, whatever he said was the truth to Candide. Pangloss knew everything. Cunégonde, the main female role, is like Eve. She has a seductive air, she is fascinated and has a desire for something in the garden. She is tempted by Pangloss, god. The effect of her desire, forces Candide to leave this garden in Westphalia (Germany) just like Adam and Eve have to leave the Garden of Eden, in that story. The only signs of this place in Westphalia being a garden was the “little coppice, called the park” and the fact that there were bushes. Once Candide has left Westphalia, he wishes he was still there, in that earthly paradise. He keeps trying to look back, glancing towards his version of heaven. Later he is also found to be like Adam, in his naïvety. When he is asked to eat with the soldiers he does not realize that he would have to work and be with them until his death.

Eldorado is the second garden. It is a earthly heaven because of the riches. The banks of the river to Eldorado were lined with coco-nut trees, considered wealth from some places, for it was natural growth, not from plantations. There was also may wild flowers, but by the context of the novel they seemed rather nicely maintained. Everything seemed to be magnificent in appearance like the Garden of Eden. The women in Eldorado were of “matchless beauty, so beautiful there was nothing to compare to”. The wealth was infinite, “precious gold stones were thrown away… gold, emeralds, rubies”. Candide tried paying for food with three large gold nuggets, they were worth nothing to the people of Eldorado. The government paid for the food anyway, there was no way Candide could have paid. For the people of Eldorado there is no religion, they have everything they could ever need, and dream of, there is no reason for them to ask for more. That is the major difference with their Eden, they do not seem to have an over ruling belief for something higher and hopeful. This place is everything Candide could have ever dreamed of finding. He could have been truly satisfied for life. But he chooses to leave. Because there is one thing that is missing, his true love, Cunégonde. This main character trait makes him like Adam, because he also could not be without Eve, for she was created so that he was not alone. They complete each other, they can not be separated. That is also what makes Candide more human, he is not a person that only gets what he wants, he has true emotions, and needs for specific things.

The Garden of Candide, at the end of the novel is the garden with the most progress. It is placed in Turkey, which is a very fertile place, according to the amount balance between sun and rain. Candide and his group of friends work in this garden, they sell their vegetables to make a profit of some sort. They work for what they have, and what they need. They go through normal life difficulties to have control of their lives. The last lines of the novel are “but we must go and work in the garden”. This shows that Candide did not learn everything from Pangloss, but he learned that you need to work to get something you need. Situations like this ending show the real change of character of Candide. He is no longer a spoiled child with no outlook on life, and no consideration of anything else. He has developed into a man that understands the worthiness of life, and the concept of labour for love. Also Cunégonde changed, she became a woman. She got a temper, and got less beautiful and seductive, but she is still the person Candide fell in love with, and that is the significance of change.

The ending teaches the students of ISL that it is important to work for yourself. The group of students here is spoiled, they get everything they could ever ask for, like the people of Eldorado. They do not learn the major lessons in life, if they always have their parents at their backs, to protect them. Most of us have not really seen poverty, or any form of abuse. They have not gone through true suffering. All the stages that Candide had to go through to really understand what was worth living for we have not gone through. Maybe all the students here are still like Candide in the first Garden. Hopefully to learn we won’t have to go through that much, but as Pangloss showed us, these are not things you can teach. Life lessons like this can only be understood at a basic level if you read novels like Candide, or anything by any major philosopher.