Candide reaches a city were people treat precious stones such as diamonds and gold like dirt and soil, this city is called El Dorado. There are many legends concerning El Dorado, most during the time of the spanish inquisition were people told legends about a place were gold was seen everywere and were a king covered himself with golden dust.
This is the place that candide reached in the book, I think Voltaire is mocking the spanish conquistadors. He thinks as well as I do that the mere thought of such a perfect city was extemely impossible, so he decides to include this in the book to make fun of the greed people experienced when they thought this city actually existed, and that Gonzalo Pizarro went on an actual expedition to find it. It is ridicoulous what some people will do for gold and the extremities they will reach. This is why he constantly mentions El Dorado through out the book using a satirical tone.
I also thought about how he describes the place, were nobody cares about wealth, and where luxuries are seen everywhere. I think by this he is actually mocking the whole concepts of our society meaning wealth, power, war, etc. An old man quotes "So far we have been sheltered from the greed of European nations, who have quite irrational lust for the pebbles and dirt found in our soil, and would kill every man of us to get old of them" (Pg. 79) That quote summarizes my point, people today pay ridicoulous amounts of money for diamonds and gold when they are just pebbles and rocks found in our soil, and it is true that many man actually would kill to get hold of them. I think Voltaire is making fun of society, its actually stupid that human beings are so materialistic to the point that shiny stones can make someone feel superior or even inferior, and they can cause one to have certain "power".
This is the place that candide reached in the book, I think Voltaire is mocking the spanish conquistadors. He thinks as well as I do that the mere thought of such a perfect city was extemely impossible, so he decides to include this in the book to make fun of the greed people experienced when they thought this city actually existed, and that Gonzalo Pizarro went on an actual expedition to find it. It is ridicoulous what some people will do for gold and the extremities they will reach. This is why he constantly mentions El Dorado through out the book using a satirical tone.
I also thought about how he describes the place, were nobody cares about wealth, and where luxuries are seen everywhere. I think by this he is actually mocking the whole concepts of our society meaning wealth, power, war, etc. An old man quotes "So far we have been sheltered from the greed of European nations, who have quite irrational lust for the pebbles and dirt found in our soil, and would kill every man of us to get old of them" (Pg. 79) That quote summarizes my point, people today pay ridicoulous amounts of money for diamonds and gold when they are just pebbles and rocks found in our soil, and it is true that many man actually would kill to get hold of them. I think Voltaire is making fun of society, its actually stupid that human beings are so materialistic to the point that shiny stones can make someone feel superior or even inferior, and they can cause one to have certain "power".
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