Optimism In The Candide

The famous saying by Forrest Gump, “Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get," reflects greatly in the Candide by Voltaire and Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathon Swift. The actions and choices made by the central characters in these two stories have a reflection on how their future lives will play out. Every actions no matter how good or how bad these characters have made have to be followed by a reaction or consequence. These two stories, Voltaire and Gulliver’s Travels, have multiple prime examples of how life is the same thing as an illustration of optimism versus pessimism. In the Candide by Voltaire there are two well-known and popular characters that are reflected upon from the beginning to the end of the story.

While on their journey to Lisbon, a catastrophic earthquake surprises them. Although, they do survive the disaster, it leads them into a series of unfortunate events to come. First of all, after the earthquake wiped out most of Lisbon, the only way that the learned men of the land were able to regain order and avoid complete destruction was by “giving the people a fine auto-da-fe.” (Voltaire 432). This is a negative reflection on Pangloss and Candide’s actions, one for talking and the other for listening with an air of approval, because the authorities came with ropes and tied them up for them to be a part of this public ceremony. Candide is sentenced to be wiped and shot and Pangloss to be hanged. Pangloss execution was successful; however, Candide is saved by an old lady who heals his wounds. Astonishingly enough, the old woman that healed Candide takes him to see Cunégonde, the young woman he kissed and was lead to believe was murdered. Cunégonde begins talking to Candide by going into detail as to how she is alive. Her whole family was killed but she was only raped and then captured and sold as a sex salve owned by Don Isaachar and the Grand Inquisitor of Lisbon. In mid conversation her two possessors show up and in a brawl, Candid kills them both. This can be seen as a reflection on Candide’s actions because if he didn’t fall for

Reflecting back to the strong words that Pangloss said at the beginning of this story, “Everything is made to serve an end, everything necessarily serves the best end,” (Voltaire 425), everything happens for a reason it is up to us to figure out what that reason is. You either see the glass as half empty or half full, it is based off of your own personal perspective as to how things will work out in the end. These two stories have very different plots and story lines, but in the end they both follow the same idea that every action has a