The Existence Of Evil In Voltaire's Candide

Many philosophers and Enlightenment thinkers believed that “everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds.” The existence of evil, to these philosophs, was thought to be an indication that there could be an imperfect God. If evil exists in the world then God must either not have total power, or not be completely good. They believed that if God is thought to be perfect, then the world that has been created must be perfect as well. In the book Candide by Voltaire, Voltaire disagrees with the idea of a perfect God. His opinion allows him to satirize the idea of a perfect world. During his time, Voltaire was extremely unpopular with not only the government, but also the church authorities. Voltaire believed that evil prematurely exists in humans leading him to mockingly touch on the ideas of religion, the power of reason, the tyranny of the church and the equality of all beings.

The idea of cultivating one’s own garden was a very prevalent concept throughout the book Candide. Gardens first appear when Candide’s uncle finds him kissing Cunegonde. “She met Candide on reaching the castle and blushed; Candide blushed also; she wished him good morrow in a faltering tone, and Candide spoke to her without knowing what he said. The next day after dinner, as they went from table, Cunégonde and Candide found themselves behind a screen; Cunégonde let fall her handkerchief, Candide picked it up, she took him innocently by the hand, the youth as innocently kissed the young lady's hand with particular vivacity, sensibility, and grace; their lips met, their eyes sparkled, their knees trembled, their hands strayed. Baron Thunder-ten-Tronckh passed near the screen and beholding this cause and effect chased Candide from the castle with great kicks on the backside; Cunégonde fainted away; she was boxed on the ears by the Baroness, as soon as she came to herself; and all was consternation in this most magnificent and most agreeable of all possible castles. (1.8)” This passage parallels the story of Adam and Eve with Candide as Adam and Cunegonde resembling Eve. Candide emphasizes that one must cultivate their garden within to kill the evil inside of you and bring out the good. The evil, good and bad all exist in us, however by cultivating the good in your garden, one has the power of bringing the good out. Candide states, "All that is very well, but let us cultivate our garden."(30.29-31) This statement further solidifies, Candide’s firm belief that individuals are responsible for figuratively cultivating their personal gardens.

Over the course of this satirical novel, Voltaire criticizes everything from aristocracy, religion, and optimism. Voltaire repeatedly mocks the idea of “superiority by birth.” For example, in the beginning of the book, the Baron’s sister does not agree to marry Candide’s father because he was not noble enough with a whopping seventy-one quarterings in his coat of arms. This satirical exaggeration of nobility at the time makes the whole concept look entirely absurd. Another aspect of Voltaire’s satire is the concept of religious similarities and differences. Voltaire questions why God can give us the hands to kill one another yet bless us with the hands to help each other; how God can give us the heart to hurt each other and the heart to love each other. Despite these stark contrasts, we still need God’s help to see the good and not let the bad consume us. Voltaire recognizes the differences amongst the numerous religions that exist throughout the world. He notices that there are countless differences in religions, there is in fact a common ground. All religions as well as all beings have evil and good within and this idea of good and evil can be used to define the concept of tolerance. We need to be more tolerant of each other rather than pointing the finger.

During Voltaire’s time, the philosophers believed that people could help shape the world into a better place.

Voltaire entirely disagreed with this optimism . He believed that true happiness could only be experienced in an unreal, perfect world. Candide lost any optimism he once had while at El Dorado. Having experienced numerous disastrous situations while at El Dorado, Candide states, "Certainly,if everything goes well, it is in Eldorado and not in the rest of the world" (42). Candide goes a step further, "Oh Pangloss, cried Candide, you have no notion of these abominations! I'm through, I must give up your optimism after all. What's optimism? said Cacambo. Alas, said Candide, it is a mania for saying things are well when one is in hell" (40). Voltaire has always been seen as a pessimistic person because of the way he looks at the human race born with evil within. Despite his numerous attempts at defining humans in a positive way, Voltaire ultimately believes that evil exists within and it is up to the individual to bring out the good and continue to cultivate one’s own

garden.

This book was written during a time when he Protestant and Calvinist movements were starting to become strong movements in France. They were moving from a Catholic government to a Calvinist/Protestant government. Voltaire believed that even though we are trying to change religion, ultimately we are all still the same despite where we are and what we practice.He uses evil to tie all the religions together by saying, yes, we may have different names, different practices, different traditions, but ultimately we all are equal in front of god, we are all made of the same foundation and essence. At this day and age, we are still a very intolerable society.Religious intolerance unfortunately is very prevalent in our current society. Perhaps with Voltaire’s ideals of all religions having a common ground, our society would not have this many conflicts.

Personally, I believe that every being is born pure. There is room for mistakes and bad choices, yet that does not make one an evil person. I believe that people have free will and have the power to control their actions, morals and decisions. At one point, “Candide asks Martin why the world was made, and Martin replies, “To make us mad.” This pessimistic attitude rubs off on Candide. Everyone has the opportunity to bring out their good within. Total control over your actions is entirely one’s choice, so it is important to continue to cultivate one’s own garden. Eric Burdon once said, “Inside each of us, there is the seed of both good and evil. It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.”