Social Criticism In Voltaire's Candide And Heart Of Darkness

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Social Criticism in Candide and Heart of Darkness
In their respective novels Heart of Darkness and Candide, Joseph Conrad and Voltaire address various hypocrisies in society. While Voltaire criticizes topics stretching from church and religion to war and wealth, Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is one of the most famous criticisms of imperialism. What measures do the authors use to criticize society, and how are their social critiques different?
The list of criticisms in Candide is long. The first chapter sets the tone, where the Enlightenment philosopher Leibniz’s optimism and focus on cause and effect is targeted: “[Lady Cunegonde] saw Dr. Pangloss in the bushes, giving a lesson in experimental physics to her mother’s chambermaid, a pretty and docile little brunette. Since Lady Cunegonde was deeply interested in the sciences, she breathlessly observed the repeated experiments that were performed before her eyes. She clearly saw the doctor’s sufficient reason, and the operation of cause and effect.” (Voltaire 16). This optimistic folly becomes a main target throughout the novel, represented by the very optimistic character Pangloss, who repeatedly claims that “all is for the best” whether it is earthquake, disease or robbery. Moreover this illustrates the novel’s use of humor and satire; it is through irony and naïve simplifications that most of Voltaire’s criticisms are made.
The light and humorous tone of Candide’s is greatly contrasted in Heart of Darkness. While both stories follow the journey a young man who discovers many horrors and evils in the world, the illustrations of the social criticisms are contrasting. In Candide horrors are trivialized to produce comical critiques. An example is when Candide and Martin...

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...earned Franciscan friar (…).” (Voltaire 23, 24).
While Voltaire ridicules many independent aspects of society, Conrad focuses on imperialism. As a result, Conrad’s social criticisms are more in-depth and multilayered, and throughout the book he builds a strong case against imperialism. When Voltaire uses satire and humor, Heart of Darkness relies on the young sailor Marlow’s opinions of his experiences in Congo. In general the novel has a dark undertone of evil and unrest and many references to darkness, which helps illustrate the hypocrisies of European imperialism in Africa. Candide’s social criticisms on the other hand are based on stereotypes and irony, resulting in comical critiques. Thus Voltaire and Conrad use very different methods to convey their social criticisms; nevertheless they are both very successful in highlighting the hypocrisies of their day.

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