The Jesuit Baron

This part of my life is probably one of the most depressing parts of my life. It all started when I saw how the Bulgarians savagely murdered my parents. On top of this after the Bulgarians left I could not see my sister anywhere, so I assumed the worst. When the Bulgarians were gone mass burial processions started to happen, and I was thought to be dead! When the Jesuit sprinkled the mass of bodies with holy water I tasted a salty flavor, and some drops trickled into my eyes. This stung, so my eyes flickered a bit, but enough for the father to see it and check my pulse rate. Naturally it was still going (other wise I would not be writing this blog). After a couple of days I was sent to Rome by the Reverend Father Croust. He informed me that our Genera was looking for young German Jesuits. I was considered to be a fit enough young man to work in the vineyard. When I arrived at the site I was given a subdeaconship. This means an official recognition that I am a follower of the deacons. I was also given a lieutenancy, giving me a higher rank in the army. When we heard that the troops of the king of Spain were coming, I was told that we would beat the soldiers, and that then they would be excommunicated. Everybody knows that is the worst thing that can happen to a person. It happened to be the case that the Baron was with me. I was informed that the Governor of Buenos Aires was with Cunégonde the Baron’s sister. Both of us wanted to recover her alive, as it was his sister, and as I intended to marry her. This was not a smart thing to tell the Baron. I figured this out after it was too late and I had already said it. We got into a little argument, and I ended up killing “my old master”. The emotions that were running through me are inexplicable, but if you killed a close friend you would know what I am talking about. Cacambo, the guard at the gate saw what had happened, and he thought of a way to get out of this by having me put on the clothes of the Baron. There is much more to come, but you will have to wait!


There are several techniques that Voltaire uses in this chapter. Voltaire uses "Deus ex machina" which means that the hero gets saved in a miraculous way.This happens at the beginning of the chapter when the Jesuit drops water on the corpses, and that Candide's eyes flickered, that was some what unlikely. eyes flicking slightly can't be seen very easily. Voltaire also uses understatement, when Candide kills the Baron. Voltaire also uses overstatement when the Baron says; "as you will remember, my dear Candide, I was a very handsome lad."(Pg 39).

The reason Voltaire included this chapter is somewhat hard to think of. Several reasons can be thought of. Some reasons I thought of include: it can be to demonstrate the importance of religion, or the lightness around the fact that Candide killed the Baron. In my opinion it also displayes family values to a certain extent. This is because the Baron wants to recover his sister, and when he hears Candide about marrying Cunegonde he is not happy about that. this chapter seems to spread over quite a bit of time. This is probably due to all of the events that take place within the chapter. The chapter seems to go on and on through many events, these events are not in very great detail.