Pros And Cons Of Filling Candide

Is Pangloss preaching Optimism or Illusion?

Voltaire was a seventeenth-century French writer and philosopher who challenged the oppressive treatment of those whose ideas regarding religion and expression were thought to be radical and unorthodox through his satirical works that attacked the aristocrats of society. Voltaire rivaled his former mentor, Leibniz, and his unrealistic views regarding the world by means of condemning the folly of unrelenting optimism and the many disservices that accompany it. The Seven Years’ War and 1755 Lisbon Earthquake were both events that resulted in casualties ranging from 100,000 to 1 million, devastating whole communities and countries. Leibnizian optimism regarded these two events as inevitable and better for the whole, meaning if they had not happened

Voltaire includes the character Pangloss, whose merits are notably attributable to those of Leibniz, to pose as a mentor that preaches non-sense and gives Candide an illusion of security and reality. Voltaire uses various satirical techniques to convey that Pangloss and his optimistic rants only serve as a challenge by filling Candide with false realities that he must ultimately overcome in order to become an independent man.

Optimism is used to the point of atrophy by Pangloss given that his whole story arc ends with him as a slave. Pangloss exemplifies all idiotic and ludicrous ideals found in optimism. He is a complete caricature of all philosophers and aristocrats who believe so one-sidedly that anything that contradicts their beliefs, even their own experiences, are cast off without any inquisition. Optimism does not allow Candide’s and Pangloss’s experiences be reflected upon and used for the growth that they would otherwise have. The only difference is where Candide represents naivety and an innocent unfamiliarity with the world, Pangloss