Old Women: To Die Or Not To Die

After the old women tells her story, which I got surprised in how such bad stories can happen in a satirical book. All of a sudden, she explains how she thought of suicide “hundred times I wanted to kill myself, but always I loved life more. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of our worst instincts; is anything more stupid than choosing to carry a burden that really one wants to cast on the ground? To hold existence in horror, and yet to cling to it? To fondle the serpent which devours us till it has eaten out our heart? —In the countries through which I have been forced to wander, in the taverns where I have had to work, I have seen a vast number of people who hated their existence; but I never saw more than a dozen who deliberately put an end to their own misery.”(Candide pg53) the question of why more unfortunate people don’t kill themselves is rational in this book were everything is sad stories which we mock, the auto-da-fe the earthquake, Cunegonde’s story. In past times and still today the Church forbids suicide she might have been following but it would be ironic, that she is a sin herself being born from the pope itself the bastard child, so technically she is bound to go to hell. After suffering such harsh experiences I would guess that the old woman’s’ thoughts are to be that nothing can be worse to what she has already lived so if killing herself is as sin, hell can’t be worse than life so why stop living? This seems like a good idea which kind of goes along with Pangloss way of thought, optimistic. I don’t really have clear why did the old women decide to live but perhaps is because all is for the best and she was bound to meet with Candide (I was trying to be funny there, because I do not believe in faith). She might also not believe in an afterlife and her mention of the serpent may be referring, to Adam and Eve, the sin of life. The fact that she questions it proves that she does not believe. This is also ironic because with a parent that belonged to the church she should believe it. But anyway allot of questions came up to me as I read this, one thing I can say, congratulations old women you if it weren’t for you maybe this whole story in the book would not have happened, you are very important good thing you decided to live!