Candide: an Analysis of the Way Candide's Views on Life Changes

            Candide is consistently being brainwashed by reason (Pangloss) saying that we live in "the best of all possible worlds", while it is quite obviously that he does not. For how can there be, in the best of all worlds, war, slavery and many more abominations. Half-way through the book it would appear that Candide has given up his optimism when he looked at the Negro slave. "Oh Pangloss... I'll have to give up your optimism at last" (73). But to the distress of the readers he has not given up his chafing optimism. "Since I found you [an Eldoradian sheep laden with stones], I'm sure I can find Cunegnde again" (79). Thus we see that he has quickly recovered his optimism. Voltaire is using Candide's blatant optimism to relate to the people of his time that also have the same type of optimism.

Voltaire's Candide is the story of how one man's adventures affect his philosophy on life. Candide begins his journey full of optimism that he lives in "the best of all possible worlds," but he learns that it is naïve to say that good will eventually come of any evil.

At the same time, Candide struggles with why the evil happens if it is indeed the best of all possible worlds: "And whatever Master Pangloss said of the matter, I have often had occasion to notice that things went badly in Westphalia"(p.551). One reason that Candide should not follow blindly whatever Pangloss says is that the beliefs are not his own. Candide needs to look within himself for the key to happiness. What makes Pangloss happy will not necessarily make Candide happy. Candide learns to search himself in the end when he discovers that the key to his own happiness is "cultivating

. The naivety of his desire for happiness is often associated with innocence and a lack of knowledge about world and the society we live in. If one wishes to become knowledgeable and experienced , innocence and ignorance must be sacrificed. Upon being given the choice between execution and flogging, Candide learns that there is not always a clear choice between good and bad, in this case one must choose between bad and worse. Once the young protagonist is cast out into the real world his eyes are opened to the reality and evilness of the world around him. However because of his dependence on others to think for him Candide’s mind still remains closed to self experience and discovery of meaning or lack there

From a young age, Candide had been taught by Pangloss to have an optimistic philosophy, and he kept those ideas with him throughout his life. Even when the people around him feared the worst and complained about their misfortunes, Candide kept going back to the idea that “everything is linked in a chain of necessity, and arranged for the best” (9). And by no means was he left untouched by various trials: he was flogged, penniless, driven from his home, shipwrecked, robbed, and doomed to leave his loved ones. Although these misfortunes make him question the necessity of tribulation, he nonetheless hoped for the best. Part of his optimism might stem from the fact that he was young and healthy, but it’s also because he cared about the welfare of those apart from himself. For instance, when he heard that Cunegondé was dead and Pangloss hanged, he cried, “If this is the best of all possible worlds, what must the others be like? …Mademoiselle Cunegonde…was it necessary for you to be disembowelled?” (16) Clearly, the reason he questioned the “rightness” of the world is because it took away the people he loved. His mourning for those who have died shows his tender innocence, but it also shows his selflessness. In fact, the reason he was so optimistic throughout the story was because of his longing for Cunegondé, his beloved, and his only wish was to be with her and keep her safe. In other words, he lived for something outside of himself, and that caused him to have hope.

Voltaire's Candide is a novel that is interspersed with superficial characters and conceptual ideas that are critically exaggerated and satirized. The parody offers cynical themes disguised by mockeries and witticism, and the story itself presents a distinctive outlook on life narrowed to the concept of free will as opposed to blind faith driven by desire for an optimistic outcome. The crucial contrast in the story deals with irrational ideas as taught to Candide about being optimistic by Pangloss, his cheerful mentor, versus reality as viewed by the rest of the world through the eyes of the troubled character, Martin. This raises the question of whether or not the notion of free will is valid due to Candide’s peculiar timing of his

Cacambo is also one of Candide’s companions on his journey. He also acts as an advisor and a guide for Candide and helps him develop some knowledge towards the ways of the world. Unlike any other character in the novel, Cacambo is honest and highly intelligent. Cacambo shows confidence through his intelligence and moral unrighteousness. He is a good man, as well as kind and generous. Cacambo pushes Candide to view the world as it really is, instead of following Pangloss’ philosophy of “the best of all possible worlds.” He wants Candide to understand that bad things happen in the world and that everything is not good.

Voltaire’s use of irony and exaggeration elaborates on the meaning of each scenario and the absurd reality of Candide’s life. Voltaire’s greatest satire is one of optimism. Candide is taught that all is for the best in the world in which he lives, yet there is so much negativity occurring around him. The war, the destruction of natural disasters, and the concept of human wrongdoing contribute to the revelation that his previous philosophy is a fallacy. Candide begins to realize that “work keeps us from three great evils: boredom, vices, and need.” Candide concludes that they must “cultivate their own gardens” in order to find true happiness. The suggestion that the former philosophy that can be seen throughout the novella no longer reigns true contributes to the irony of Candide’s thoughts. By recognizing the humor in what seems like a dreadful environment calls for the reader to dive deeper than the literal meaning of the words. The satire invokes thoughtful laughter by expanding on the absurdity of the

Pangloss, a philosopher is depicted all through the novel as an idealistic mastermind who lives by this logic. Candide, who is mentored by Pangloss aimlessly much of the time addresses this reasoning at snapshots of hardship over the span of his life, lastly rejects it, picking to trust that in spite of the fact that the world is not the best of all possible worlds but,“we must cultivate our garden” (Voltaire 365). Different characters in the book likewise can 't help contradicting Pangloss ' ideals. Jacques who went to Lisbon with Pangloss isn 't strong of these ideals. Jacques says “ humankind has corrupted its nature a little, for people were not born wolves, yet they have become wolves. God did not give them heavy cannon or bayonets, yet they have invented them to destroy each other” (Voltaire 309). The book recounts the account of Candide, as he goes through life and endures numerous hardships on account of others. Candide not only suffers, but the people he surrounds himself with suffer the same fate as well. The book does a good job at outlining human suffering that provoked enlightenment ideas to not only challenge it, but to really show their true selves. Each time something bad happens Pangloss shares his idealistic perspective as to why it occurred. The way Candide points these things out, causes the reader to disagree with Pangloss’s

In a way, Pangloss is Candide’s “father-figure”. As no physical father is present in Candide’s life, Pangloss’s teachings install order and opinion in his world. Whenever introduced to something new- terrible or grand- throughout this novel Candide’s first thought is always about Pangloss; what he would say about it or how he would react. Pangloss physically bounces in and out of this novel, infrequently, but in reference he is in the entire book. Page four in chapter one, while setting up the background for Candide, Voltaire includes an educational and philosophical speech by Pangloss in which he ends by stating, “...all is for the best.” This direct quote continues to influence Candide throughout his quest. This quote initiates an optimistic attitude in Candide which will encourage him throughout his adventures.

Enlightenment thinkers wanted tangible, concrete evidence to back their arguments. Pangloss based his arguments on nothing. Voltaire portrays him as naïve, scorning him for not experiencing and studying the world before he becomes firmly planted in his ideas. Even after Pangloss experiences the evil ways of the world, he refuses to change his philosophy. Pangloss would rather preach something attractive to the ear rather than reality. Candide’s servant Cacambo also speaks of false optimism as he tries to console Candide over the loss of Cunegonde. He says that women are never at a loss and that God takes care of them. However, Cunegonde and the Old Woman both experienced brutality and suffering many times over in their lifetime. Cunegonde was bought, sold, and treated like a possession throughout the novel. She and the Old Woman were left vulnerable to molestation and treated like objects. The only hint of optimism in Voltaire’s novel is when Cacambo and Candide stumble upon the country of Eldorado. However, this optimism is quickly distinguished when the two men foolishly trade such a perfect society for jewels, gold, power, and influence. Eldorado is a country in which there is no organized religion, no courts or prisons, no poverty, and complete equality. Even the king is treated as a normal citizen. Candide overlooks the fact that this is a perfect society because of the ideals they practice, and believes that the riches are the most

Candide finds himself captured by the Bulgarian army where he is whipped terribly, he then walks away and is punished even worse. Despite all that Candide never forgets that all his experiences are for the greater good and the they happen so that something better can happen later. Candide later bumps into a deformed beggar with an eaten nose that turns out to be his master Pangloss, who represents radical optimism. He explains that he has contracted syphilis but through Voltaires diction he creates a humouristic tone where Pangloss proceeds to explain that him having syphilis is acceptable because due to it we also have chocolate "it was a thing unavoidable, a necessary ingredient in the best of worlds; for if Columbus had not caught in an island in America this disease, which contaminates the source of generation, and frequently impedes propagation itself, and is evidently opposed to the great end of nature, we should have had neither chocolate”. Voltaire makes the reader notice how crazy and illogical he sounds mocking his ideology through his character’s situation.

Candide is a novella where the main character, Candide, lives through situations from two perspectives: optimistic and pessimistic. Candide was living a sheltered life under the Baron’s castle where, Dr. Pangloss, the tutor of Candide believed in Philosophical Optimistic views which Candide picked up on. Martin a character we met along the way was the one who showed Candide that not everything was for the best. “We must cultivate our garden,” is a pessimistic line because it is encouraging us to withdraw from world problems, find something wrong with everything, and focus on oneself in order to be happy (113). Pessimism is shown throughout the book in many forms, but one of the more up sides of it is shown through the resilient characters

Candide begins with the title character receiving instruction from his tutor Dr. Pangloss, whose worldview is characteristically optimistic (he ceaselessly asserts that the world they inhabit is the best that it possibly could be). Pangloss is a kind of satirized version of Johnson's Imlac. Neither philosopher appears to have any real control over the events of the world, even though their prescient ideas seem to give them some sort of mental agility and power. Candide is indeed

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.