Reason And Enlightenment In Voltaire's Candide

One of the main purposes of the Enlightenment was to promote reason and rationalism as a way to improve society and politics. However, Voltaire, an influential and famous philosopher and writer during the period of the enlightenment, repeatedly criticized certain aspects of Enlightenment philosophy. In his short story, Candide, Voltaire somewhat harshly attacks the optimism that was so popular between philosophers during this time and instead he decides not to disregard the inescapable presence of the evil that is in nature and humans. In this piece of literature, the protagonist of the story, Candide, experiences extreme changes in his reason and maturity. By the end of Candide’s topographical and philosophical journey, it is evident that

For example, Voltaire accomplishes this task through travel. The story is completely built on a lively and difficult journey that is undertaken by Candide, as well as other characters in the story that are very close to him. Additionally, the point of view constantly shifts throughout the entirety of the story, alternating narrators to reassure accessibility of travel to all men and women. As the story continues, the events that occur at each setting begin to show the universality of human suffering. The universality is a reality that Candide and the other characters should recognize in order to ultimately decrease the amount of pain they experience themselves. For instance, an old woman much more knowledgeable than Candide helps him understand this concept by telling him, “divert yourself, and prevail upon each passenger to tell his story, and if there is one of them all that has not cursed his existence many times, and said to himself over and over again that he was the most wretched of mortals, I give you leave to throw me head-first into the sea” (Voltaire, 39). Certainly, almost every chapter of this story contains horrifying accounts of ferocity and suffering that occurs to members of every social and political

Many philosophers in the Enlightenment encouraged rational thought as a way to help ease the effects of evil, but Voltaire helps Candide and the reader to accept that evil does exist. Furthermore, instead of accepting evil, he also advises them to attempt to lessen some of its effect by promoting change. In this world, there are two forms of evil: one that cannot be changed by man, such as natural disasters, and one that can be changed by man, such as warfare. Rather than speculating on the reason why evil exists, Voltaire thinks that man should be able to manage them as best as he can. For example, he ridicules metaphysicians that spend most of their time considering the reason for evil. In the beginning of the story, when Candide is about to be viciously killed, the narrator says, “at that very instant, His Bulgarian Majesty happening to pass by made a stop, an inquired into the delinquent’s crime, and being a prince of great penetration, he found, from what he heard of Candide, that he was a young metaphysician, entirely ignorant of the world” (Voltaire,