Candide In Candide, Voltaire uses literary devices to convey the idea of optimism when facing the misfortunes of the world. Voltaire uses alot of juxtaposition, symbolism, and irony to indicate the challages people may face and the optomistic views in the world. Voltaire has deep pessimistic values on human nature which shines through the glittering portrait of the harminous utopian society. Voltaire sheds light on the psychological idea of optomism versus pessimism. Voltaire also identifies the good and evil that is portrayed in the world and among human nature.
Voltaire. Candide, Or, Optimism. London: Penguin, 2006. Print. Candide or Optimism: A Novel Criticizing Numerous Ideologies
When he is forced to leave this life behind him, one follows Candide’s slow, painful disillusionment as he experiences and witnesses the great injustices and hardships of the world. This text is a satire in which Voltaire satirises Leibniz’s Optimism “not only by the illogical travesty of it which Pangloss parrots throughout the story, but also by juxtaposing it with various atrocities and disasters which the story provides…” (Pearson xx). Voltaire rejects this system of thought, as Enlightenment ideologies try to use “logic and reason [to] somehow explain away the chaotic wretchedness of existence by grandly ignoring the facts” (Pearson xxi). It is in these lines that one can discern the disillusionment that Voltaire was feeling with the world after the 1755 Lisbon Earthquake (Pearson xix).
As the novel comes to an end, Candide and his group meets a Turkish farmer, and he gives the group advice that inspires them. “Our work keeps at bay the three great evils: boredom, vice, and necessity” (Voltaire 92). Candide holds on to this line and with the money has left purchases a farm for the group to live and work on. Boredom can come with both mobility and lack thereof, and observation can aid on which side you desire. If one is continually on the move as Candide was throughout the novel, boredom may come from never being still.
The novel Candide, written by Voltaire, portrays the adventures and experiences of the main character named Candide. Being a very honest man, a character like Candide can be easily swayed and convinced to do and believe anything. From carelessness to greed, the reader can clearly understand that Voltaire ridicules many decisions and situations that occur in the novel. One of many themes Voltaire mocks in the novel would be how greed can result from wealth. What Voltaire is ultimately conveying to the reader is that money cannot buy happiness.
Voltaire’s Candide takes us through the life and development of Candide, the protagonist. Throughout his adventures, he witnesses many travesties and sufferings. Like many Enlightenment philosophers, Pangloss, Candide’s tutor, is an optimist; this philosophy was adopted by many to help mask the horrors of the eightieth century. Pangloss teaches Candide that everything happens for a reason. Voltaire uses satire, irony and extreme exaggerations to poke fun at many aspects; such as optimism, religion, corruption, and social structures within Europe.
As the reader continues to read about Candide’s travels, the events become more predictable and episodic. Traumatic events follow more traumatic events. When Candide is not running away from his death sentence, he is being robbed or flogged or murdering someone. Voltaire is clearly poking fun and satirizing how Candide experiences life while still holding on to Pangloss’ beliefs. From an outside perspective, Candide and other characters’ experiences were not only harsh but comedic.
Voltaire is well known for his suggestive satirical work, especially his masterpiece Candide. Candide is a timeless piece still relevant today, that was written to warn the public about the consequences of radical optimism (Online-Literature 1). The main character, Candide, is a naïve and trusting young man who is banished from his home. Despite his life being filled with a series of bizarre disasters, Candide holds fast to his optimism – which serves as an example to readers. Voltaire emphasizes the dangers of radical optimism by incorporating tone, themes and utilizing satire in Candide.
In Candide Voltaire discusses the exploitation of the female race in the eighteenth century through the women in the novel. Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman suffer through rape and sexual exploitation regardless of wealth or political connections. These characters possess very little complexity or importance in Candide. With his characterization of Cunegonde, Paquette, and the Old Woman Voltaire satirizes gender roles and highlights the impotence of women in the 1800s. Cunegonde is the daughter of a wealthy German lord.
In Voltaire’s book, Candide, many characters are faced with challenges that test their decisions in tough situations. Candide is a prime example of the way experiences impacts his thinking and reaction in situations. His head is all wrapped up in Pangloss’s philosophical idea of, “All is for the best”, which leads Candide to believe many things are happening for a reason. Many people change over time due to experiences they encounter in life. As Candide is on his adventure he is enlightened by the world around him.
Voltaire’s Candide is a story of a young man’s adventure and how his experiences change his philosophy on life. Although Candide’s adventures begin with a rather positive confidence that he lives in “the best of all possible worlds” his attitude is quickly transformed when he realizes the world is in fact full of evil. In
The best of all possible worlds denotes itself to nothing short of perfection. In Voltaire 's novel Candide, James the Anabaptist and El Dorado represent just this. The theory of Optimism, the idea that the best of all possible worlds is the world in which we all live in on earth. Voltaire created two characters that highlight religious tolerance and the qualities that many religious practitioners preach but do not practice. Voltaire criticizes both the religious practitioners and the theory of optimism through the various characters in the novel.
Moreover, situations these forces create, and how they are beyond and within the control of Candide. Leading to Candide’s final beliefs, and how they illustrate the follies of optimistic determinism. At the beginning of Voltaire epic Candide is a naive scholar. He strongly adheres to the beliefs laid out for him by his mentor Pangloss.
Candide, by Voltaire, is a book depicted in the 18th c. that tells the story of a young man named, Candide, and the misfortunate life he must live through; even though, it may seem as all the physical events and situations he encounters are the most significant details about the story, it is the internal conflict and shift from optimism to an eventual unfortunate realization of the truths of the terrible world we live in that truly exemplify Voltaire’s point of view. It begins with Candide, who lives a peaceful life in a castle with seemingly no problems or worries. Meanwhile, he is being taught by his mentor, Professor Pangloss, about the beauty of optimism and a positive perception of the world and it becomes a part of Candide’s personality. However, the entire novel is about this shift in mentality that Candide experiences throughout his life, it seems as though his fate is tragic. Consequently, a sudden abrupt end to this ideal life is triggered by his pursuit of a forbidden relationship with his love Cunegonde, the king’s daughter, and this prohibited love gets Candide thrown out of the castle and out into the harsh real world where he is faced with adversities that seem unsurpassable and inescapable.
One key facet of living in the world today is the ability for people to have free will over their own lives. In Voltaire’s story “Candide,” it is clear to observe that although Candide is free to form his own decisions, he allows himself to be strongly determined by his surroundings as well as everyone who he encounters. This story proposes that Candide is trying to find a balance between submitting completely to the speculations and actions of others while also taking control of his life through blind faith. Throughout the story, Candide encounters frequent hardships along his voyage to prosperity. These obstacles include, but are not limited to becoming a bulwark, being beaten and forced to watch his beloved Pangloss having been hanged, leaving such an amazing place as Eldorado, being lied to and tricked out of diamonds by the abb`e, killing Cunegonde’s two lovers, almost being boiled alive for killing the monkey lovers, and being persuaded to be promiscuous on Cunegonde.
