punishment

From the very beginning of the story, Candide endures some very harsh punishments. Voltaire exaggerates the punishments perhaps to cause a greater development in both story line and character growth with Candide; all the while, setting the reader up for a "comical" realization  The unfitting consequences of his actions begin in the earliest chapters of the novel with the Baron exiling Candide into the wilderness for simply kissing Cunegonde. Without these extreme circumstances, the novel would lack the satirical elements that lead to the profound meanings presented by Voltaire.