Candide: A Short Story

Toward the beginning of the 18th century, a new ideology began to take hold of Europe. It was during this time that a radical and critical revolution took place to bring about the use of rational thought and enlighten the people about their own beliefs and values; thus igniting the period of Enlightenment. In this period many people followed the teachings of their forefathers, such as Socrates, who was considered a figure of skepticism and rational thought. Challenging all views and theorems was the main point of this new ideology. Voltaire, a very powerful and influential figure among the writers of the 18th century, was known for his rejection of religion and a devout deist. In one of his most famous works, Candide, he

Jacob walked out of his final exams and hopped town, climbing on the first train he could. He quickly found out that it was no ordinary train. It belonged to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on

The same scenario is used next with the exception of your position. This time, you are on a footbridge nowhere near the lever to divert the train.

The Story of Candide is a short but diverse story that tells of a young man’s journey for love and understanding and the hardships he faces, all the while keeping a very strong, positive and philosophical outlook on life. The novel takes place both in fictional and existing locations throughout Latin America and Europe during the 1750’s. Voltaire believed that the society he lived in had many flaws, which are often illustrated and satirized in Candide. Candide’s journey portrays the flawed human assumption that the grass is always greener on the other side as well as giving the reader an apt example of an individual’s journey from innocence through a series of trials and tribulations to becoming a mature, experienced and enlightened individual.

Get out of the car and try to push it off the track, if you cannot push it off the track get help. If the train is approaching get out of your vehicle and move far away from it.

They slid into a train wagon; the doors sliding close right behind them, catching the green creature’s nose between them and making him leap back and pound the platform with rage.

weightlessness. This is why the train has wheels on the bottom of the track and the passengers of the train have some sort of restraining device to hold them into their seats.3 So, as the train goes down the hill it is actually falling, causing the velocity of the train to increase due to the

Candide is a good-hearted, but very naïve young man from Westphalia. From the very beginning Candide had his eyes on a beautiful woman named Cunegonde who is the Baron’s daughter. Candide was chased from Westphalia after being caught stealing an innocent kiss from

How do the experiences of the women in Candide differ from those of the men? How do their reactions to those experiences differ from those of the men?

He follows them and asks them to help him get in the platform. “All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between nine and ten. It didn't come… he kept on running... he opened his eyes. A straight steam engine was waiting next to a platform packed with people.

In the Neo-classical novel Candide by Voltaire the theme of innocence and experience is prevalent through the protagonist, Candide, especially through his journey of finding the prescription of how to live a useful life in the face of harsh reality. In William Blake’s collection of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience the two characters, tyger and lamb, show how we lose our innocence to gain experience. Although the innocence and experience are paradoxical terms, we can solve the paradox by analyzing these two works.

As the train hit the brake run, the brakes tighten with impressive force and speed, bringing the train to a smooth stop. The combination of grace and power and its disorienting array of twists and turns is impressive.

Voltaire had once said “I disapprove of what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it.” This quote itself is representative of who Voltaire was, a man who was vocal and an activist. Born in 1694, Voltaire was set out to become a well known writer and contributor to the Enlightenment. Voltaire had written many books, but his most well known novel was Candide. This book was written as a satirical response to the philosophy of complete optimism championed by scholars, particularly Philosopher Leibniz. Throughout this novel, Voltaire utilizes the literary genre of Bildungsroman to set a framework for criticizing Leibniz’s philosophy. Bildungsroman novels are characterized by “the development of a young person...attempting to learn the nature of the world” (Hofeditz). The main rites of passage are: birth, the teacher, love, and marriage. The main character in Voltaire’s novel, Candide, sets on a journey of finding love and gaining maturation, teaching readers that “nothing is perfect, life is worth living nonetheless” (Academy).

In each adventure of the story Candide, Candide is on the path to his own enlightenment. Enlightenment comes through one’s personal trials and tribulations. Candide is an optimistic individual, and his story explains the view of Optimistic Philosophy. But, in the end of the story Candide abandons his optimistic views to be happy with the life he has come to create for himself. There are several other themes or motifs related to this story, and I am going to touch on seven of the obvious ones.

French philosopher Francois Marie Arouet, also known as Voltaire, is one of the leading figures of the Enlightenment epoch and famous for the fight for freedom, tolerance and knowledge. One of his the most prominent philosophical writings is “Candide, ou l’Optimisme”. This widely translated satirical novel was published in 1759 as a response to the “Lettre sur la Providence” by Rousseau, which shows an optimistic doctrine same way as Leibnizian theory. The main message of “Candide” remains relevant nowadays, that is to say, an abstract theoretical discourses provide no response to various forms of evil manifesting in this mundane world. The philosophical tale consists of the development of this central idea without difficult