Innocence and experience In the neoclassical novel Candide the theme of innocence and experience is prevalent through the journey of the protagonist, Candide, in search of the prescription on how to live a useful life in the face of a harsh reality. Furthermore, in William Blake's collection Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, the two characters, the tiger and the lamb, show how we lose our innocence to gain experience. Although innocence and experience are paradoxical terms, we can resolve the paradox by analyzing these two works. First in the novel Candide the neoclassical age defined innocence as ignorance and experience as knowledge. It means that when you are born you are a blank slate (innocent) but life will write on you (experience). If we examine the etymology of the character's name "Candide" we learn that her name comes from the Latin word "Canidum" which means, however, once Candid is faced with real world problems such as hunger and human cruelty after being was kicked out of the castle. The first example of Candies' innocence is when he leaves the Barons' Castle "Candide, expelled from the earthly paradise wandered for a long time without knowing where he was going" If we examine the word paradise we learn that it is defined as a "peaceful place that seems perfect" We know that the paradise he is referring to is Westphalia, which raises the question: is Westphalia the perfect place? Westphalia has decent-sized houses, but it wouldn't necessarily be perfect if Candide were kicked out. Also why Candide refers to Westphalia as a paradise is because this is the only place he knows of that proves his innocence. During the journey Candide gains new experiences that shape his view of Pangloss's theory. One example the reader sees of Candies' change from innocence to experience is when Candide, Pangloss, Cunegonde, Martin, and the Crone reunite. La Vecchia takes stock on page. 480 “I would like to know what is worse, being raped a