Essay on The Role of the Individual in Candide

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All around the world the roles of the individual and of society are completely abstract. As the world changes and develops, the roles of the individual and society change to meet the needs of the people. Voltaire's Candide which involves France during the Age of Enlightment & Marx & Engels' Communist Manifesto which involves Germany around 1848 both discuss the roles of the individual and of society in different ways. In both pieces of literature what is expected of the individuals and of society is very different from what is presently happening. The Communist Manifesto discusses human nature and social class while Voltaire discusses the flaws of society and the realities that not everything is for the best. In Communist Manifesto, the …show more content…
Individuals are promised so much more in a Communist society. The difference between the idea of increasing labor and widening labor although minuscule provides hope for the people who are sick of their current society. “In communist society, the present dominates the past. In bourgeois society, capital is independent and has individuality while the living person is dependent and has no individuality” (The Communist Manifesto 15). This shows how people, while working toward the greater good have their own individuality under communist society. In a Communist Society although people are allowed to be unique they are all considered equal no matter what.

In Candide the role of an individual is to be an individual. Voltaire, throughout the skill of repetition exploits how people behave. He describes for instance how everyone feels someone is better off than they are. Voltaire uses Candide's journeys to portray the human assumption that the grass is always greener on the other side. Now even though most people are not pleased with how their lives are currently, they are esteemed individuals. Individuals work for the benefits of themselves as they cultivate their farms and work hard to make sure their families are well fed and stable. “‘I have only twenty acres of land’ replied the Turk, ‘which my children and I cultivate. Our work keeps us free of three great evils:
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