Satire In The Novel 'Candide' By Voltaire

Introduction

Candide (optimism) by Voltaire is also known as Francois-Marie Arouet is a short novel with the genre being a satire; adventure novel and was originally written in French with the time and place of the novel being written in Schwetzingen, Prussia; and Geneva, Switzerland from 1758-1759. The publisher of Candide was Gabriel Cramer with the publication of the book being in January or February of 1759.The story takes place in various real and fictional locations in Europe and South America. The time period in which the novel takes place is in the 1950s.

The story beings with the main character being Candide, who lives in the castle of the Baron of Thunder-ten-tronckh in Westphalia. Candide believes in the same philosophy that his

Like the first theme this is also repeated throughout the novel. Dr. Pangloss has led Candide to believe more in the abstract philosophical arguments rather than what is actually going on in the real world. A couple of examples would be when Jacques drowns, Pangloss stops Candide from trying to save him and tells him “by proving that the bay of Lisbon had been formed expressly for this Anabaptist to drown in.” Another example would also be when Candide is lying under the rubble after the Lisbon earthquake and he asks Dr. Pangloss to hand him some oil and wine, but instead Dr. Pangloss tries to instead prove the struggles of the earthquake. Although, in the end of the novel Candide rejects Dr. Pangloss philosophies for an ethic of hard, practical work. When they are in the garden and instead of Candide remaining idle, he begins to start

Voltaire was able to accomplish this from viewing everything from a philosophical standpoint. He was then able to swiftly make up ironic, satirical, and absurd characters throughout the book that were able to point out the flaws dealing with the world. Although, Candide strived to “enlighten” the reader through his contemporary philosophy. There wasn’t anything revolutionary about it, because Voltaire failed to portray woman correctly. The novel certainly was able to create a comical view, but the bias on woman left the book to not be able to become “enlightened” as it was entitled to be. I do also believe that there were more suitable options in the end then living life on a farm. I am certainly happy to have read the book and to have formed a new mentality on how I view things in the world, but I am now left with the processed information that things could have ended for the better. I understand that the ending in the book was to end with how people are supposed to view philosophy and how it deals with the world, but it seems as though Candide went about the whole scenario in the most ignorant way possible. He could’ve gone to Eldorado and be able to live his life with peace and prosperity. I do however understand why he says what he said in the final pages of the novel. It shows how Candide went from a young naïve