Candide Theme of Mortality

Death and near-death experiences are pervasive in Candide. However, for nearly every death, there is also a resurrection. Like nearly everything else in Candide, Voltaire parodies death by frequently coupling death with resurrection.

1. What is the significance of near-death experiences in Candide?
2. How is death satirized in Candide? In what ways is it taken seriously?
3. Check out the passage in which the Old Woman says she could never take her own life. What is the significance of this statement?
4. What do the deaths and resurrections of characters in Candide suggest? Do they act as symbols for particular philosophies.

The frequent resurrections in Candide mock the idea of growth and progression over time. Despite apparent changes, everyone ends up right back where they started.