He does this despite all of the things Candide does for Cunégonde later in the story to save her life so they can live happily ever after. In this particular introduction to Candide's life, the idea is this: The rules established by aristocracy about marriage are needlessly complicated and people should be allowed to marry whom they will. .
In Voltaire's eyes, the military is as corrupt an establishment as organized religion. Throughout the book there are indictments of the conflicts between countries over what should be small issues like religion and land. Military men are seen in this book as insensitive brutes that don't care what happens to the conquered and as seeing their actions and morals as unquestionably good. Bulgar soldiers discover a wandering Candide and recruit him to fight with them against the Abars (the French). This particular conflict was over religion. Candide is considered to be a Metaphysician, and so when he is discovered taking a walk and punished as a deserter, he is forgiven because he was "utterly ignorant of things of this world."" (45) As Voltaire writes he is making Candide, his "hero- so to speak, a person who should be benefiting from these victories in war, suffer from them, making his point that not everyone, and certainly not the general public, benefited from these pointless and destructive battles, as the heads of state said. More often than not, the civilian fatalities and wounded would outnumber those of the soldiers. Voltaire is making that fact clear in showing the plight of Cunégonde and the death of most of her family. Cunégonde was raped by a soldier then taken in and sold by another military man to a Jewish merchant. This is a depiction of the historically selfish nature of soldiers in times of war and disaster, and of how their behavior often went unchecked, seen as the "spoils of war."" These "spoils- were actually the people being fought for.
