Do Candide's Punishments Fit His Crimes?

Do Candide’s punishments fit his crimes?

I think it is obvious that Candide’s punishments do not fit his crimes. In my opinion, Candide does no wrong in the book. He is painfully naive, and a little immature and gullible, but to say that he committed a crime hugely overstates the case. The only crime he committed is the one he didn’t get punished for, and that is killing the inquisitor and the Jew. The story puts Candide through all of these ridiculous and life threatening experiences because he is convinced that whatever is happening to him is the best it possibly can be. After a few near death experiences, some war and destruction of cities, Candide finally begins question whether he is actually in the best situation he can possibly be in. Granted, some fortunate things do happen to him in comparison to all of the hardship he has gone through, but that is only to be canceled out again by more trials and tribulations. The really only true punishments Candide had was when he was in the Bulgarian army and they whipped the skin off of his back, and also being thrown out of the castle for kissing the princess. I think with the progression of the book, Candide becomes less of a push over, and begins to take initiative. If he had been doing that all throughout the story, he wouldn’t have dealt with all of these punishments I’m sure. However, the author does a great job of portraying Candide’s growth as a multi-faceted character, and it is satirical which makes it 10 times more enjoyable.