Does the Punishment Fit the Crime?

      Candide can never seem to get a break. Even after he gets kicked out of the castle, horrible things continue to plague him. Why? He hasn’t done anything bad. He just doesn’t know any better. The initial mishap (and one of the most significant) was him getting kicked out of his “Eden.” It wasn’t fair. It was a mutual expression of lust between him AND Cunegonde.
  
   As a matter of fact, Cunegonde learned this sort of behavior from Pangloss. Earlier in chapter one, it described an encounter between Pangloss and a chambermaid. Pangloss served as the serpent to tempt Cunegonde into engaging in the same forbidden activity he was. It was a little after that her and Candide got caught. Cunegonde and Pangloss should have been punished too. Although, it could be argued that eventually they were all kicked out of the castle and their paradise was destroyed.

     Candide was thrust into a world he wasn’t ready for. His naïve, optimistic nature led him to get taken advantage of or in some kind of trouble multiple times. He begins to question his philosophy as misfortune continues to follow him. The best of all worlds definitely isn’t the one he’s living in, and he’s forced to learn it the hard way. That’s the real reason his punishments are so unnecessarily harsh. It’s supposed to demonstrate how long can a person go on believing something even with increasing evidence against it. If he doesn’t begin to change, nothing good will ever happen.

My Modern Day Socrates

Socrates constantly questioned those to make them question themselves. How much do we all really know? Why do we believe what we believe? I’ve started to contemplate these types of issues much more lately. Partly because I’m getting older but also because of one person. His name is Eliseo, and he is my modern day Socrates.

Eliseo is a friend of mine that I’ve known for a couple years now. He’s one of the most interesting individuals I know. I’d never admit that to him though. He’s very good with advice and wants to be a high school counselor or psychiatrist one day. Maybe that’s why he’s so good at asking questions. Whenever we talk he always make me laugh or think.

I thought I knew a lot of things for certain before some of the conversations we’ve had. I remember one particular phone call. We started debating our views on fate. I stated that there is no such thing as fate because we make decisions that could alter our life drastically one way or the other. He started asking me to explain my reasoning further or why do I feel the way I do. I started off strong, (or at least I thought) but after some time I began to question myself. He never outright called me dumb or tried to prove his point but I ended up agreeing with a lot he said.

I guess the reason I like to keep him around is because he isn’t scared to question the big things in life. Whenever I have spare time or am just sitting on the train, I like to think. I’ll ask myself questions to see if I can answer them. I’m not crazy by the way. I owe it all to Eliseo. Again I would never admit that to him.

The Unexamined Life is Not Worth Living?

“The unexamined life is not worth living,” was said by Socrates over two thousand years ago. It’s amazing the power words can hold and how people still debate what he really meant. I can’t help but wonder if Socrates ever thought his work would survive through the trials of time and human memory? I mean think about it, his mind would be blown. Here I am, a seventeen-year-old girl writing an online blog entry to share with my high school philosophy class what I believe Socrates meant and not being forced to drink poison…haha get it because that’s how he died…too soon?


Anyway, we all live an unexamined life up to a certain point. When we are children we believe whatever our parents, family, or teachers tell us. My parents would teach me wrong words in Spanish purposely because they thought it was funny how I would run around saying…inappropriate things. In my defense I was a little kid, and my parents were the only thing I knew. Don’t worry though, I now know the true meaning to the lovely vocabulary I was once taught. I only achieved that new knowledge, however, by question.


“The unexamined life” is a life without questioning. It’s someone who has beliefs and values but doesn’t know why. It’s a necessity to question, “Why do I believe…” you fill in the blank. If we keep on living life without asking ourselves that or at least taking a moment to reflect, then we’re just living our parent’s life or our teacher’s life or whoever made that impact on you. You’re not living if you’re not acting as an individual, and that is a life not worth living.

My Eulogy

By the time you will be reading this I will already be dead. No I did not commit

suicide. I just figured who would be better to write my own eulogy than me. I would love

to say that I died doing something cool like shark wrestling, but I most likely got run over

by a bus or something (I’m a bit of a day-dreamer).

Well I, Vanessa Alexis Rangel, was born June 14, 1993 on what I’m assuming

was a beautiful summer morning. I was the daughter of two loving parents named Carlos

and Leticia Rangel and family meant a lot to me. I had a very strong bond with my sisters

that I still cherish. I was also a loyal friend who would have done anything to help one of

them out. I enjoyed making people laugh and didn’t like to bring others down even when

I felt glum. I figured things will eventually improve, so why dwell on the negative? I was

even lucky enough to have an amazing boyfriend that I often annoyed because of my

lack-of-thinking-before-I-speak disorder.

In regards to my accomplishments, I’ll probably be best remembered for being an

honor student at Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. Being educated was always

important to me. I strived to be successful and to not have to depend on another to get

what I wanted. I used to dance a lot too. I loved music. I performed in and choreographed

for S.L.A. (Somos Latinos Aspirantes).

I would like to think I was a pretty good person. I lived a happy life that like most

had some rough patches, but I wouldn’t trade a single one of them. Mistakes and

challenges teach people the most whether they realize it at the time or not. There’s always

something else to learn. Well, except for me because I’m dead.

Vanessa Alexis Rangel

June 14, 1993- September 9, 2010