In the third and second chapters of Candide a recurrent theme, free will made its first appearance. When Candide is taken by the Bulgars, he decides to take off one day ignorant of the consequences of such action. When he is forced to return he is forced with this decision: "It was useless to declare his belief in Free Will and say he wanted neither; he had t make his choice. So exercising that divine gift called Liberty, he decided to run the gauntlet…"(24). This piece shows life in a world without free will. It certainly is a horrible sight considering this sort of occurrences still happen. Although he says he has no free will in that situation as person he can choose many things that happen to him unlike Billy Pilgrim.
He chose to leave that place maybe taking that path took a turn he didn't expect but it still proves he chose that path. When it comes to those choices we are confronted with a sarcastic part: "So exercising that divine gift called Liberty, he decided to run the gauntlet…" (24). He had no liberty since he only had two choices no one would like to take. This is the beginning of satire since it is absurd for someone to commit a crime he didn't know was committing and to be punished with those two horrible choices. Also, his liberty which he didn't have at that moment is present in other choices on the past. This liberty of choice which comes and goes can only be taken by other humans and although sometimes it might look like its gone forever it always returns. This could mean that no matter how many chains there are on the human spirit, its nature remains being that of freedom and because of this, none of these chains will keep it enslaved for long.
The question is is this Candide's target or belief?
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