Cándido

Quellen und Links

Cándido comes from Tepoztlán, Mexico, and has spent his whole life chasing the American dream
He is 33 years old and has been working seasonally in the United States for almost a decade before the events of the novel
He was previously married to América's older sister, Resurrección, but the marriage fell apart after she cheated on him — the man she cheated with also humiliated Cándido in a fight, which turned him into a heavy drinker for a time
After recovering, he ran into América again and brought her with him to the US, promising her a better life

Cándido is deeply superstitious and sees himself as a cursed man — and the events of the novel often seem to prove him right
He is deeply frustrated by his situation and sometimes expresses this through anger, especially toward América
Despite this, he is fundamentally a good and honest person — shown most clearly when he saves Delaney from drowning at the end, even after everything Delaney has done to him
His father taught him to "make like a wall" in times of hardship — to show nothing, neither fear nor despair, and protect himself from the inside out
This stubbornness and inner strength is what keeps him going through endless suffering

His main goal throughout the novel is simple: find steady work, save enough money, and get a proper roof over his family's head before the baby is born
He deeply values hard work and self-sufficiency — he wants to provide for his family without relying on others
He is protective of América, sometimes overly so, and worries constantly about her safety
He wants to achieve the American dream through honest effort, not by taking shortcuts

Cándido is loosely based on the character Candide from Voltaire — a man for whom everything that can go wrong does go wrong
He is hit by a car, robbed, beaten, nearly starved, unable to house his family, and loses his daughter in a flood — yet he never fully gives up
Despite all of this, he ends up as the hero of the novel — choosing to save the man who had sought to defeat him, rather than letting him drown
He represents the reality of the immigrant experience — hardworking, decent, and constantly let down by a system that does not want him there

He can be overly proud and stubborn, sometimes refusing help or making poor decisions out of a desire to appear strong
He occasionally takes his frustration out on América unfairly, most notably when he drunkenly blames her for being raped
He sometimes underestimates América and tries to control her out of fear, rather than trusting her judgment

By the end of the novel, Cándido is coming to grips with just how unreachable the American dream really is
He represents the many undocumented immigrants who come to the US simply to work and build a better life — only to be met with hostility, exploitation, and injustice at every turn
The fact that he saves Delaney in the end — the man who hit him with a car and later came after him with a gun — shows that he never loses his humanity, no matter how badly the world treats him