Candide By Voltaire (1694 – 1778) Essay, Research Paper

Candide is easily Voltaire’s wittiest

novel. In its time it was a powerful tool for political attack on Europe’s

degenerate and immoral society. The work vividly and satirically portrays

the horrors of eitheenth-century life: civil and religious wars, sexual

diseases, despotic rulers, the arbitrary punishment of innocent victims

- the same enduring problems we witness today.

Through the constant misfortunes of Candide,

Voltaire poses meaningful questions about the nature of suffering. Pangloss’

philosophy is eagerly and enthusiastically accepted by Candide in the beginning

of the novel. But toward the end of his life he refutes this Utopian theory,

concluding that diligence in labor is the only answers to a life constantly

riddled with bad luck. Indeed, Voltaire teaches that man is incapable of

understanding the evil in the world, and concludes that the fundamental

aim in life is not happiness, but survival.