Voltaire's main character, Candide, is somewhat of a simple man living a happy life in the castle of the Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh. Voltaire chooses the name Candide, a French adjective rooted in the Latin word "candidus" or white, for this character to show that he is an innocent person with good intentions. He lives here with the Baron because he is the illegitimate son of the Baron's sister who was unwilling to marry his father since he was poor. Voltaire has Candide born out of wedlock, a sin according to Christian principles, to prove that he is born int

Voltaire tries to make clear through his ending that while God may exist and have a plan for everyone, as seen in the Book of Job and Candide's acceptance of Pangloss's last shot at optimism, hard work is more important to success on Earth than anything else. Voltaire shows in the book that if Candide had stopped searching as hard as he did for Cunegonde and had placed all of his faith in God to work things out, nothing would have happened. Voltaire is unwilling to place religion as the key to success on Earth and therefore has Candide determine that hard work, represented symbolically by cultivating one's garden, is the first priority in life.

Candide replies to the theory of optimism by commenting, "That is very well put but we must cultivate our garden."

Pangloss teaches a philosophy known as optimism to the three children. Optimism believes that this is the best of all possible worlds and all events on Earth are due to cause and effect. The philosophy also holds that every event is necessary for one reason or another. Pangloss's teachings are representative of the Christian religion. According to the word of God, every man who believes in him and asks for forgiveness of his sins receives eternal life, the best possible world. Unfortunately, due to the sins of Adam and Eve, man must live life on Earth before he can reach the perfection of Heaven, and the trials of life on Earth, brought on by the Devil, are meant to test man's faith in God.

Candide finds his world crashing around him after he is caught by the Baron kissing Cunegonde, and he is flogged and banished from the castle. Shortly after his departure, Bulgarian armies find him and, as Voltaire describes, he is forced "to run the gauntlet thirty-six times and actually endured two floggings. The regiment was composed of two thousand men. That made four thousand strokes, which lay open every muscle and nerve from his nape to his butt." Eventually the King of Bulgaria saves him, and he escapes to find Pangloss, now a beggar. Pangloss tells of the destruction of the castle of the Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh and the apparent death of the family.

"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. You asked, 'Who is this that obscured my counsel without knowledge?' Surely I spoke of things that I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know."

Although devastated by the loss of his love Cunegonde, Candide manages to keep his belief in optimism. Pangloss aides his belief by stating that he has caught a venereal disease that can be traced back to the Americas, but he believes that it is okay due to his belief in optimism. He explains to Candide,

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 2278
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)