# XIV: How Candide and Cacambo Were Received by the Jesuits of Paraguay explained — Candide

> Chapter companion for Candide by Voltaire.

## What happens

Candide and Cacambo flee Buenos Aires and travel to the Jesuit kingdom in Paraguay. They are disarmed and brought before the Commandant, who turns out to be the Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh, Cunégonde's brother, believed dead. A joyful reunion ensues, and Candide reveals that Cunégonde is alive and nearby.

## Themes in this chapter

### Critique of Religious Hypocrisy

The Jesuit Commandant, a religious figure, lives in luxury while the indigenous people eat from wooden dishes, highlighting hypocrisy.

### Social Class and Inequality

The Jesuits possess all wealth and power, while the people have nothing, illustrating extreme inequality.

## Character check-ins

### Candide

Travels with Cacambo to Paraguay, reunites with Cunégonde's brother.

### Cacambo

Guides Candide to Paraguay, arranges their entry and breakfast.

### The Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh

Revealed as the Jesuit Commandant in Paraguay, alive and well.

## Key lines

> The kingdom is upwards of three hundred leagues in diameter, and divided into thirty provinces; there the Fathers possess all, and the people nothing; it is a masterpiece of reason and justice.

Cacambo describes the Jesuit kingdom as vast and perfectly ordered, where the clergy own everything and the populace owns nothing.

_Satirical praise of Jesuit governance._

> What, is it you, reverend Father? You, the brother of the fair Cunégonde! You, that was slain by the Bulgarians! You, the Baron's son! You, a Jesuit in Paraguay! I must confess this is a strange world that we live in.

Candide expresses astonishment at finding the supposedly dead Baron alive and serving as a Jesuit commandant in Paraguay.

_Key moment of recognition and irony._

## Links

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