Examples Of Optimism In Candide

707 Words2 Pages

In the novella Candide, the protagonist,Candide, lasts line was was,”We must cultivate our garden.” This quote is shown to be optimistic through the actions of Candide, Pangloss, and Martin because they are engaging with others to try to make the world a better place. As they travel through different places in the book they are exposed to issues of the real world that challenge their beliefs, but in the end their actions prove that the novella, Candide, has an overall message that is optimistic.
Candide and Martin’s actions in the book show that the message of the book is optimistic. Candide’s love for Cunegonde is shown when he was,”still walking over quivering limbs, or through ruins, he finally emerged from the theater of war, carrying …show more content…

His optimism is showed when he is explaining how he got syphilis,” … because if Columbus, on an American island, hadn’t caught that disease which poisons the source of generation… we would now have neither chocolate nor cochineal...and individual misfortunes create general welfare, so that the more individual misfortunes there are, the more all is well.”(24-25) In other words, this shows that even though Pangloss caught syphilis from someone else he explains that if this disease didn’t start then we wouldn’t have certain things we have now and that everything happens for a reason. This is significant because it shows that the message that Voltaire is trying to portray is that someone with a deadly disease can still remain optimistic. Pangloss also stays optimistic when there is an earthquake and a shipwreck,” The hosts wet their bread with their tears, but Pangloss comforted them by assuring them that things could not have been otherwise: ‘For,’ he said, ‘all is for the best. For if there’s a volcano at Lisbon, it couldn’t be anywhere else. For it’s impossible for things not to be where they are. For all is well.”(27) This illustrates that Pangloss justifies natural disasters by saying that everything happens for a reason and that these events couldn’t happen anywhere else, but only the place where they originally happened. This is important because even though Candide and Pangloss went through a storm, a shipwreck, and an earthquake, Pangloss remains optimistic and comforts the people around him making them also feel more hopeful than they were before. In conclusion, Pangloss endured some tragic and harmful events that would have changed anyone’s philosophy immediately, but instead of feeling discouraged he stayed optimistic and engaged with others and actively worked towards making the

Open Document