# XVI: Adventures of the Two Travellers, with Two Girls, Two Monkeys, and the Savages Called Oreillons explained — Candide

> Chapter companion for Candide by Voltaire.

## What happens

Candide and Cacambo, having fled the Jesuit camp, encounter two girls being chased by monkeys. Candide shoots the monkeys, only to discover they were the girls' lovers. The girls then denounce them to the Oreillons, who capture Candide and Cacambo, mistaking Candide for a Jesuit. Cacambo cleverly convinces the Oreillons that Candide is actually their enemy's killer, leading to their release.

## Themes in this chapter

### Suffering and Human Cruelty

Candide and Cacambo face being roasted or boiled by the Oreillons, highlighting the arbitrary cruelty of the world.

### Critique of Religious Hypocrisy

The Oreillons' hatred of Jesuits and Candide's mistaken identity as a Jesuit underscore the hypocrisy and violence associated with religious orders.

### Optimism vs. Pessimism

Candide's lament about Pangloss's philosophy ('Everything is right') contrasts with his dire situation, questioning Leibnizian optimism.

## Character check-ins

### Candide

Shoots the monkeys to rescue the girls, then is captured by the Oreillons and nearly eaten, but is saved by Cacambo's speech.

### Cacambo

Remains calm, speaks to the Oreillons in their language, and persuades them to spare Candide and himself by revealing Candide killed a Jesuit.

### The Oreillons

Capture Candide and Cacambo, planning to eat them as Jesuits, but release them after verifying Cacambo's story.

### The Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh

Referenced as the Jesuit officer Candide killed, whose spoils Candide wears, leading to the Oreillons' initial mistake.

### Pangloss

Mentioned by Candide in his lament about pure nature and the possibility of monkey-human mixtures.

## Key lines

> Ah! what would Master Pangloss say, were he to see how pure nature is formed? Everything is right, may be, but I declare it is very hard to have lost Miss Cunégonde and to be put upon a spit by Oreillons.

Candide wonders what Pangloss would think of his current predicament, acknowledging that while Pangloss claims everything is for the best, it feels unjust to lose Cunégonde and be nearly cooked by cannibals.

_This quote encapsulates Candide's struggle with Pangloss's optimism in the face of extreme suffering._

> Gentlemen, you reckon you are today going to feast upon a Jesuit. It is all very well, nothing is more unjust than thus to treat your enemies. Indeed, the law of nature teaches us to kill our neighbour, and such is the practice all over the world.

Cacambo addresses the Oreillons, acknowledging their intention to eat a Jesuit but arguing that they are mistaken, as Candide is actually their ally who killed a Jesuit.

_Cacambo uses rhetorical skill to turn the Oreillons' cannibalistic logic against them, saving their lives._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/candide_se/chapters/xvi-adventures-of-the-two-travellers-with-two-girls-two-monkeys-and-the-savages-called-oreillons
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