Voltaire Response To Candide

In Response to Candide by Voltaire

In Voltaire’s “Candide,” the story of a young man named Candide begins with a brief description of the main characters: Candide, Cunegonde, and Pangloss. Pangloss was a tutor in the castle Candide grew up in and proved that there was no effect without a cause. Cunegonde was seventeen years old and desirable by Candide. Candide was an honest young man with exceptional manners. The story features some unfortunate events for Candide after being kicked out of the castle he grew up in. Voltaire writes very vivid descriptions of the events that happens throughout the story. He also wrote this story from an experience in the mid-1700s that surprised him, and also adds some things that he personally has been through. The story of Candide is eye-opening as with the graphic descriptions, believing there is a reason for everything, and the moral of the story.

Voltaire’s extremely graphic descriptions of the events that happens throughout the story are shocking. One of the first instances was when Candide escaped from the Bulgarians after being chained, whipped, and drilled to become a member of the Bulgarian army. He hides during the war but after it is over he flees to

“Noses were made to support spectacles, hence we have spectacles. Legs…were made to be breeched, and so we have breeches. Stones were made to be shaped and to build castles wit; thus My Lord has a fine castle” (356). Even though everyone knows that noses were not made to support eyeglasses, it is still a good way to support this theory. This statement by Pangloss still holds true and there is an endless list of things that could go along with this theory. For example, beds were made to sleep in, pots were made to cook with, and chairs were made to sit in. Although each of these items could be used for something else, they each hold some form of