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Metaphor
Explanation and Analysis—The Mice on Board:
At the end of the novel, the primary cast of characters, including Candide, find themselves in Turkey, where the last of Candide’s gold from El Dorado is spent in securing a modest farm upon which they can live. When Candide, Pangloss, and Martin visit a Dervish who is renowned as the greatest philosopher in Turkey, Candide asks him about human nature, and the philosopher responds to his question with a metaphor:
“Master,” said he, “we come to beg you to tell why so strange an animal as man was made.”
“With what meddlest thou?” said the Dervish; “is it thy business?”
“But, reverend father,” said Candide, “there is horrible evil in this world.”
“What signifies it,” said the Dervish, “whether there be evil or good? When his highness sends a ship to Egypt, does he trouble his head whether the mice on board are at their ease or not?”
By this point in the novel, Candide’s once-strong faith in Pangloss’s optimism has begun to wane as a result of his experiences and the monotony of farm life. The Dervish responds to Candide’s question by asking him why he is bothering to think about topics that cannot help him in any way, and which are perhaps not even his “business” to think about. Explaining his perspective on the question of God and humanity, the Dervish uses a metaphor that compares humankind to mice. He asks Candide whether or not a king “troubles his head” about “whether the mice on board” a boat “are at ease or not,” suggesting that God does not concern himself with the minor affairs of individual people.
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