Chapter IX
Candide kills a Jew and the Grand Inquisitor to protect Cunegonde.
26 argumentative units
- 01Characterization of Issachar
The narrator establishes Issachar as an exceptionally choleric Hebrew, setting up his volatile temperament as the catalyst for the coming violence.
- 02Issachar's jealous accusation
Issachar confronts Candide in a jealous rage, accusing him of sharing Cunegonde and drawing a weapon to defend his claim.
- 03Candide kills Issachar in self-defense
Candide, armed with a sword from the old woman, draws his rapier and kills Issachar in self-defense, laying him dead at Cunegonde's feet.
- 04Cunegonde's fearful response to the killing
Cunegonde expresses horror at the corpse in her apartment, fearing the arrival of justice officers will doom them all.
- 05Candide's appeal to Pangloss's philosophy
Candide laments that Pangloss, the great philosopher, has been hanged and thus cannot provide counsel, leading him to consult the old woman instead.
- 06The Grand Inquisitor's unexpected arrival
The Grand Inquisitor suddenly enters through a side door at midnight on Sunday, encountering Candide with sword drawn and a corpse on the floor.
- 07Candide's instantaneous reasoning to kill the Inquisitor
Candide rapidly reasons that the Inquisitor will have him burnt and Cunegonde similarly punished, justifying preemptive murder as necessary and inevitable.
- 08Candide kills the Grand Inquisitor
Without hesitation, Candide pierces the Inquisitor through and casts him beside the Jew's corpse.
- 09Cunegonde's despair over the second killing
Cunegonde expresses shock that Candide, naturally gentle, has killed both a Jew and a prelate, believing they are now excommunicated and doomed.
- 10Candide's justification through passion and victimhood
Candide defends his actions by claiming that when one is a lover, jealous, and whipped by the Inquisition, one abandons restraint.
- 11The old woman's practical escape plan
The old woman takes charge by proposing they flee on three horses to Cadiz, emphasizing the favorable weather for night travel.
- 12Candide's execution of the escape plan
Candide saddled the horses and they traveled thirty miles through the night, eventually learning the Holy Brotherhood discovered the house and the bodies were disposed of differently.
- 13Cunegonde's discovery of theft
At an inn in Avacena, Cunegonde weeps over the loss of her money and jewels, despairing about how they will survive.
- 14The old woman suspects a Grey Friar
The old woman expresses suspicion that a reverend Grey Friar, who stayed at their previous inn and left early, robbed them.
- 15Candide's invocation of Pangloss on common property
Candide invokes Pangloss's teaching that worldly goods are common to all men, yet ironically notes the Friar should have left them enough for travel.
- 16The old woman proposes selling a horse
The old woman pragmatically suggests selling one horse to fund their journey to Cadiz, despite her physical difficulty with riding.
- 17Candide's military opportunity at Cadiz
At Cadiz, a fleet prepares for war against Jesuit Fathers in Paraguay; Candide's military skill earns him a captain's commission.
- 18Candide's wavering faith in Pangloss during voyage
Candide reasons that the New World must be where all is best, yet admits some grounds for complaint about the world's nature.
- 19Cunegonde's lingering trauma and doubt
Cunegonde loves Candide but confesses her soul remains full of fright from her experiences, doubting optimistic claims about the new world.
- 20Candide's assertion that the New World is best
Candide insists the New World's calmer seas and regular winds prove it is the best of all possible worlds.
- 21Cunegonde's resigned prayer for improvement
Cunegonde prays for the best while remaining emotionally closed to hope given her past suffering.
- 22The old woman claims greater misfortune
The old woman insists she has suffered more than Cunegonde, provoking the latter's skepticism.
- 23Cunegonde's detailed catalog of her sufferings
Cunegonde enumerates her ordeals—ravishment by Bulgarians, wounds, destroyed castles, murdered mothers, whipped lovers—as evidence of exceptional suffering.
- 24Cunegonde's fall from noble birth
Cunegonde emphasizes she was born a baroness of seventy-two quarterings yet reduced to working as a cook.
- 25The old woman's cryptic promise of revelation
The old woman mysteriously claims superior suffering and hints at showing physical evidence—her backside—that would silence Cunegonde's judgment.
- 26Setup for the old woman's life story
Candide and Cunegonde's curiosity is raised, prompting the old woman to begin recounting her own background and sufferings.