How Does Voltaire Use Literary Techniques In Candide

Voltaire uses many different kinds of techniques in Candide to put his various messages and opinions across to the audience. The use of multiple conventions and types of style show that certain writing techniques will never go out of date. In particular, the novel of Candide tends to use a literary technique where the characters are simply used to express Voltaire's personal opinions on matters such as love and politics. The way that the novel is written can be considered a picaresque narrative, which contains elements of both first and third person narration, however the narrator in Candide seems to be rather objective as we can see in Chapter 30. Pangloss, who is very important in the story represents philosophy due to his profession of

being a philosopher and his train of thought. Cunegonde is a woman of desire for Candide, representing love and Candide himself represents optimism due to being a highly driven optimist. Each of the characters can be seen as impractical or 'two-dimensional', and the strong sense of optimism presented by Candide is clearly exaggerated due to him never being negative after all of the terrible things that happen to him. Voltaire gets his messages across with a quick pace of optimistic thinking from the characters followed by the pessimistic realities on his part.
Throughout Candide, Voltaire uses each of the characters to voice his opinions mocking philosophical optimism. Candide throughout the tale has remained extremely positive despite all of his shortcomings and failures until this point. Candide begins to show a less positive outlook in Chapter 30 however, and this is made clear by the tone that Voltaire forces into Candide, thus contradicting the typically over optimistic character that the audience has got to know. Instead, a pessimistic tone has been put into the light. Voltaire sarcastically suggests that 'Candide, after many disasters, would henceforth lead the most agreeable of possible existences...all those diamonds from the land of the ancient Incas'. The sarcasm through the narrator begins here, although may not appear to be very clear until Voltaire disregards this for his own realistic outlook of the situation where 'his wife growing uglier by the day...despair at not being able to shine at some German university'. Voltaire uses his power of narration to completely flip the tones and the way of thinking of both the characters and the audience .The narrator has changed the positive image of Candide and has almost destined him to fail along with the other characters and because of this the outcome almost seems inevitable. This is evidence of Voltaire simply using Candide to voice his own opinions on the realities of life but also showing his technique of using extreme opposites in such short spaces of time.
In the novel Voltaire appear to take on a third person omniscient narrating style. It can be considered to view Voltaire as the God looking over Candide and the other characters as he seems to be able to see the world around them, often describing Candides adventures as an outsider but still presenting the characters views on the subject in a form of satire. A fine example of this is Candides response to 'the old woman' when she decides to say that she 'would like to know which is worse: to be raped a hundred times...or simply to sit here and do nothing'. The imagery used here is extremely graphic and violent to the point that it would be rare for someone to not be disturbed by it. The idea of these violent acts such as being flogged and hanged or worst of all being raped by a group of violent 'negro pirates' suddenly puts a very negative message towards the audience. Voltaire has once again switched the tone from one extreme to another by making Candide respond with, 'That is a hard question'. The ridiculously sarcastic and humorous comment shows strong elements of satire that brings the audience back into a safer frame of mind, that being the expectation of humour keeps the usual optimistic outlook from Candide. The use of exaggeration and contrast helps convey the humour of the situation and the emptiness of the argument. The different tones and fast paced story narrated by Voltaire presents a roller coaster ride in the battle of optimism and pessimism.
Voltaire manages to use the character of Pangloss in a form of symbolism. The character seems to stand for philosophy itself, and Voltaire consistently uses him to state his strong beliefs in optimism, despite everything that has happened to him in the story. In chapter 30 Voltaire uses Pangloss' deliberately dramatic persona to expose the absurdity and beliefs that are being stood for. While the characters are debating philosophy, Pangloss appears to no longer believe that everything is for the best as he says to Paquette, 'so heaven brings you back here amongst us, my poor child! Are you...What a world it is!'.
In chapter 30, reality begins to hit the characters in the story.

Voltaire is beginning to conclude the story and informs the audience that 'It would be altogether natural to suppose that Candide, after so many disasters, would henceforth...he took things as they came.'. The small passage switches from a positive assumption of how the story is going to end to a pessimistic and sarcastic prediction, portraying a possible sense of reality becoming apparent to the characters. Pangloss in this extract appears to come across as a little more pessimistic and eccentric, as opposed to his character in the very beginning of the novel appearing to be highly respected, strong and wise. The plot begins to change direction and the optimistic view of the world that has been so prevalent throughout the novel is coming to a halt. Voltaire has brought the characters together and changed everything that the audience and characters assumed they would become. Candide yearning for Cunegonde quickly becomes redundant with the character simply not wanting to be romantically involved anymore due to her once stunning beauty now turning to ugliness. Pangloss was first described as 'the greatest philosopher in the province', however now appears to act foolish. Martin the pessimist was taken on board to be persuaded to become more philosophical and optimistic about the world, however he ended up staying 'firmly persuaded that people are equally miserable wherever they are; he took things as they came'. The way Voltaire pushes the humour and sarcasm along with the dramatic imagery allows Candide to be ironic and full of wit making the story appear more relatable for the audience when the characters quickly change their opinions and mature. Voltaire does not make any of the characters in Candide very complex, only Candide himself. Only in Chapter 30 does a drastic change happen to the characters. The sudden comparison of a happy ending being followed by a much more realistic and darker

possibility to an ending makes it clear that the is no gradual development into the maturing of the characters and that this change is purely decided from the outside, that being Voltaire, to help emphasize his conclusion. The audience does not get to understand the characters in depth as they simply represent ideas. An example of characters representing an idea is Cunegondes name. It simultaneously derives from the chaste wife of Henry II which compounds explicit sexual references used for comical effects and helps promote the message that Voltaire wants to send of promoting the quality of candour (Fraser, R. p. 185). Pangloss also means 'all tongue' and represents the optimist philosopher, standing for philosophy itself. In this extract Pangloss appears to be deliberately bizarre due to Voltaire wanting to put forward the idea of reality that he stands for.