Hard Work Part 1

Thinking about the old woman's story, hard work never really paid off for her. She was born royalty; the only time she ever had things good was before she actually had to work for them. After her fiance was murdered by his mistress she and her mother set off on a trip to visit the altar of St. Peter's in Rome. While traveling over seas their boat was taken over by pirates. She was stripped and searched, taken into slavery and raped.
All of this lead to her witnessing her mother being murdered and her running into an old teacher who promised to take her home; but ended up selling her into slavery again; this time to a soldier. This soldier took her with him on a battle and the army ended up cutting off half her buttock and eating it! All of the hard work she did when she was a slave the first time and all the times she was raped and even after watching her mother being quartered to death she still had not yet endured the worst part. Thus, causing her to eventually being resold into slavery and having half of her buttock cut out of her and eaten by the very people that owned her! This goes to show that hard work really does not pay off; if anything it just leads to more hard work and suffering.

What Candide seems to say about Human Suffering

To me, Candide is saying that without human suffering there would be no happiness in the world. Every time Candide faltered or was hurt by someone or something he found someone he loved but that he thought he had lost forever. Thus making all that hurt and sadness he felt almost disappear. He struggled so much through everything yet never gave up searching for his true love. This seems to show that human suffering does nothing for the heart. They say what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger. And this story proved that to the fullest.
I have never heard such horrible stories as these people endured yet they still prevailed. Even the woman who lost half her butt still kept going because she knew life was worth living. The barbarianism described in this story was horrendous but without it Candide, and all the others, would never have been able to understand how lucky they were to have one another. It was interesting to hear how each one of them "died" yet never really died.
It was amazing to hear Pangloss's philosophy on cause and effect. Without the cause of human suffering: other humans; there would be no effect: happiness after surviving the suffering. Thus is it true, cause and effect is what makes the world go 'round; and without it we would cease to exist as human beings.