Candide-Purposeful Satire
For a reader to have a true understanding of Candide, they must know the purpose of Voltaire's writing. Voltaire shows the flaws of Leibniz', a German philosopher of Voltaire's time, idea that the world they live in is the best of all possible worlds cause it is God's creation through the use of satire. Voltaire uses Pangloss and a contrasting character, Martin, to point out the shortcomings in Leibniz' philosophy. Voltaire creates Pangloss, a firm believer of Leibniz' philosophy, to show the fool hness in Leibniz' ideas. While Martin is a pessimist that constantly shows Candide that the world is vicious and evil. Voltaire also uses events, such as the Lisbon earthquake and war to show that things are not always for the best. To make get his point clear in Candide, Voltaire creates the character Dr. Pangloss, an unconditional follower of Leibniz' philosophy. Voltaire shows this early in the novella by stating, "He proved admirably that there is no effect without a cause and
in the head. Candide chooses to run the gauntlet. Instead of the thirty-six times he was to run the gauntlet, he made it only two until he pleaded to the Bulgarians to shoot him in the head. Another satire of war included in Candide is the Bulgarians War is another evil which Voltaire satirizes in Candide. Voltaire uses the Bulgarians and their brutality as a basis for his satire on war. Candide is captured by the Bulgarians and is given a choice to be beaten 36 times by the regiment or be sh in this best of all possible worlds....(1)" Pangloss goes on to say that everything has its purpose and things are made for the best. For example, legs were created for the purpose of wearing stockings (2). Because of his "great knowledge," Candide Although Candid was written partially for entertainment purposes the main objective of Voltaire is to mock the views of Leibniz' philosophy. He achieved his goal of satirizing Leibniz by tearing apart Pangloss' philosophy, using Martin as a co
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Approximate Word count = 672
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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