Candide
In Voltaire's "Candide", the author uses the conclusion of the story to relate to the beginning to convey the message that philosophical rationalism is bad, and moreover optimism. Voltaire accomplishes this by piling tragic events one after another throughout the story rejecting Pangloss' idea that all is for the best. Furthermore, Candide concludes that both the teachings of Dr. Pangloss and Martin's theory are both wrong and that "we must cultivate our garden". (Voltaire, 585). To begin with, Voltaire creates the character of Dr. Pangloss to epitomize the extremes of an optimist. In the beginning, everyone and everything was well and Pangloss' theory that all is for the best made perfect sense. After escaping from the Bulgars, Candide proclaims, "Master Pangloss was right indeed when he told me everything is for the best in this world; for I am touched by your kindness far more than by the harshness of that black coated gentleman and his wife." This statement would make sense if all is well after this tragedy, but right after this statement, Candide runs into Dr. Pangloss himself, and finds that his mentor is perishing. This is an example of how tragic events compulsively take plac
Voltaire ties idea of optimism with the opposite idea of pessimism to show how neither rationalities reflect the reality of what needs to be done. Martin, a character who shows up in the second half of the story encompasses a negative attitude and gives a negative explanation for everything that happens. For instance, Candide asks Martin. "Do you think that men have always massacred each other, as they do today, that they have always been false, cozening , faithless, ungrateful, thieving, weak, inconstant, mean-spirited, envious, greedy, drunken, miserly, ambitious, bloody, slanderous, debauched, fanatic, hypocritical, and stupid?" Martin replies with, "Do you think hawks have always eaten pigeons when they could find them?" "Of course I do", Candide answers. Then to this Martin responds, "Well, if hawks have always had the same character, why should you suppose that men have changed theirs?" (Weitz, 12) In the last half of the story, Candide leans towards Martin's philosophy of pessimism, as being slightly more acceptable. He finds that the permanent principle of evil sounds more logical than the optimism found above the torment he goes through. However towards the end of the story, Vo
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 810
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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