Communism? Quite absurd.

“Paraguay…the reverend fathers own the whole lot, and the people own nothing: that’s what they call a masterpiece of reason and justice.” (PG.62)

Paraguay, governed through communism, reined by Jesuits? Quite absurd.

Plus, it runs completely against Voltaire’s ideas of life. Being a revolutionary figure during the French revolution he sought to achieve civil liberties: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, free trade and, the most important that has been mocked throughout the novel, separation of state and church. The Paraguayans demonstrated a dystopian world through Voltaire’s eyes. Apart from the nation’s people being silenced and denied their rights, they were governed by the only institution many insisted should be separate from the state due to its incredible power: the Church.

“A sergeant told them they should wait; the Colonel could not speak to them, he said, because his reverence, the Father Provincial, did not allow any Spaniard to open his mouth except in his presence, nor to stay more than three hours in the country.” (PG.63)

It seems to me that Paraguay perceived Spain at that time as many third world countries felt about the United States during the imperial era. They were oppressed by the USA’s power, exploited by a exponentially growing nation who they could not fight back against. Much like North Korea, now days, with the world developing around them they insist on the traditional. They feel, like the Jesuits in Candide that the only way to save their country from any impurities is keeping all knowledge from the outside world from their population. And as expressed in the book a huge gap between the Leaders and their followers is present.

“An excellent dinner was served on gold plates, and while the Paraguayans ate their maze on wooden dishes in the open field in the full blaze of the sun, his reverence the Colonel retired to the shade in his arbour.” (PG.64)