But what was this world created for? To drive us mad ----- Candide

When Candide returned to Europe, he was still a very wealthy man. In his journey he had befriended Martin, a man who had gone through terrible misfortunes. Martin can be seen as the exact opposite of Pangloss. Martin seems to believe that all is for the worse and that humans cannot possibly be happy in society. “But what was this world created for?’ said Candide. ‘To drive us mad,’ replied Martin (pg 95).” Martin no longer believes in good or in the future. He simply lives the live he is giving knowing all other humans are going through similar misfortunes. He also knows men are evil almost by their very origin and they will do everything to benefit themselves. This is proven when Candide falls ill in France. When the attendants of the inn see his money chest and jewels, doctors are sent immediately, women care for his food and people came to entertain Candide. To this, Martin said, “I remember being ill myself during my first visit to Paris. I was very poor. But then I had no friends no kind ladies, and no doctors, so I soon recovered. (pg 97)” Here, Voltaire mocks human’s hypocrisy and action when personal gain is possible. The doctors actually worsened Candide’s ailment and brought him close to his death.
Even after going through dozens of misfortunes and being cheated by many people, Candide still kept his Panglossian naivety. During his recovery, Candide was visited by strangers who played cards with him and he always lost. “It astonished Candide that he never held and ace in his hand, but Martin was not surprised. (pg 98)” Here we can see Candide’s naivety contrasted with Martin’s pessimistic knowledge of society. The biggest show of Candide’s ever present naivety is how he lets himself be basically siphoned of all his riches by a French abbe who takes him to many places of entertainment. Voltaire even makes the reader know about this: “He had had only a small share of the fifty thousand francs Candide had lost at cards and of the value of the two diamonds which the Marchioness had wheedled from him. (pg 106).” This conflict between Candide’s optimism and Martin’s pessimism will be present in then rest of the novel; however, why doesn’t Martin simply make Candide snap out of it? Why make him lose millions to thieves and brigands? I think Martin knows that the only way for Candide to really understand life is for him to live it. Either that or Martin simply does not care, as he ceased to care for everything else.
After he was tricked by the French and had to pay a lot of money for his liberty, Candide reached the shores of England. There he saw an interesting event: “Four soldiers stood opposite him and fired three rounds each into his skull with the utmost composure, at which the crowd dispersed evidently quite satisfied. (pg 110)” This gruesome sight horrifies Candide, even more after Martin tells him it was British admiral who was executed for not killing enough French. This was done to keep the other admirals “on their feet”. For this coldness, Candide swears to never set foot in England. I also found this excerpt interesting because of the last phrase, “at which the crowd dispersed evidently quite satisfied.” Here I felt the irony with which Voltaire wrote this phrase. How could people leave satisfied from an execution? Voltaire is mocking the 18th century Man of “Reason”, who is supposed to use logic and his values to act properly. When this enlightened man views and commends an execution, he is renouncing all of his claims of civility. Humans are not civilized.
In this section of the novel we also see the value of money. To Candide, who has more wealth than most Europeans, money seems of lesser importance than any other thing. The question there is whether this is true because he happens to be rich or he actually does not believe that money is important like Count Pocurante. I think it is because he has so much money that he doesn’t care about his spending. In previous chapters he often cared about it like when he decided to return to Europe as wealthy as possible. Voltaire I believe also mocks high-class society with Candide. At this time of enormous social inequality, the aristocracy spent sickening amounts of money on petty things like banquets or clothing. Candide’s enormous pending made me see this connection with the novel. This disdain for money is contrasted by the demeaning things many will do for it at a minimal effort, like the people who played cards with Candide, the women who wanted to tend for him or the abbe who even wrote a forged letter from Miss Cunegond in order to get Candide’s wealth. This humiliation is shown by Voltaire to state how materialistic and void of values society has become.

So These Happy Men Decided to Be Happy No Longer ---- Candide

In chapters 16 -20 of Candide, we find Pangloss’ so-called perfect World, but it is not the whole World but just a minimal portion of Earth. This place is Eldorado, the famous city f gold from American lore. In his novel, Voltaire makes it the Utopia for the 18th century Man of Reason, where everything is guided by reason and logic, not religion or other frivolities. In this remote and isolated place, all basic needs are taken care of by the government, like food and education. Here we also see what every Man of Reason desired, and that was to be rid of materialistic desires. By placing gold, emeralds and rubies at such easy access, Eldorado makes them simple natural goods, resources with which to build your home or eat your food.

They walked over to a modest little house, and went in. The door was mere
silver, and the rooms were paneled by nothing better than gold; but the
worksmanship was in such good state as to vie with the richest paneling. It is
true that the hall was incrusted only with rubies and emeralds, but everything
was so well designed as to compensate for this extreme simplicity. (pg 78)

Voltaire mocks materialistic humankind by down-playing the seemingly important aspects of the home, its gold and silver construction and its precious stone finish. In the same excerpt he hails simple things like the craftsmanship and design of the house to further show the reader what truly should matter to a Man of Reason. He also lavishly exaggerates the apparently “modest” house to make the reader wonder how the higher class houses must be like. Voltaire is mocking the reader’s materialism by showing it as one of the least important aspects of life. Later on, when Candide meets the King we are shown how true power should be: “The custom is,’ said the lord-in-waiting, ‘to embrace the King and kiss him on both cheeks. (pg 81)” A King of men should be humble and friendly to all, for example by showing kindness and equality by hugging his subjects and guests. Voltaire satirizes the show-me-I’m-better actions of European Kings who demand submission by his subjects and the utmost proofs of inferiority from others. In reality Kings should be wise enough to demonstrate their power through kindness and mutual respect.

Later on in the visit to Eldorado, Voltaire shows us how, even when given everything they ever ask for, men always desire more and bend down to their greedy selves. “They were both anxious, also, to show their friends how rich they had grown and to boast about what they had seen in their travels. (pg 83)” Candide and Cacambo have everything they could ever desire: food, wealth, friendship and liberty to think as their mind so desires. Still, the two westerners wish more, they seek the approval of society and they want to show superiority. This desire to be better than the other is what makes humankind different from the people at Eldorado who lack this urge. Voltaire follows this passage with “So these happy men decided to be happy no longer and to take leave of His Majesty. (pg 83)” Materialism and greed will never bring happiness to a man as he will always desire more, and even if he gets everything he needs a man will never be satisfied. This reminded me of a quote I once heard which said, “A man always wishes to be as happy as his neighbor and this is impossible for his neighbor is never as happy as he appears.” Men in our society are apparently doomed to live a life of ambition and desire for more.

Voltaire also attacks religion in his description of utopia, “Do you say you have no monks teaching and disputing, governing and intriguing, and having people burned if they don’t subscribe to their opinions? (pg 80)” Voltaire attacks the ridiculous tasks religion has appointed itself to. The Pope should not govern and teach or burn others, the churches only purpose should be to thank God as the people of Eldorado do to their God They simply thank him for what they have been given and use Reason for everything else. When Candide asked what religion they practiced, the Inca philosopher responded: “Can there be two religions, then?’ said he. ‘I have always believed that we hold the religion of all mankind. (pg 79)” Voltaire is showing how foolish it is to fight over religion. We are all humans and we all come from the same origin so we must all come from the same god. If this is true why do we fight about its name be it Jesus, Allah, or Buddha? In Eldorado, by the use of Reason they have realized this and do not fight about religion as it is such a simple matter. Voltaire uses the Utopia to satirize the apparent complexity humans give religion and how, if we used reason for religion as we do science, many of the world’s problems would be solved.

Everyone has a Superlative Candid

Chapters 10-15 of Candide change the setting of the novel. Before this, Candide seemed a naïve boy in love with Miss Cunegond, but now Candide is a criminal and the couple is running away to the New World. Here I can begin to see how Candide changes from Dr. Pangloss’ innocent apprentice to a real man, a person who has seen the world. This process however, is not immediate as I saw in the following excerpt: “Our excellent Pangloss often proved to me,’ said Candide, with a sigh, ‘that worldly goods are common to all men, and that everyone has equal right to them. That being so, the friar certainly ought to have left us enough to finish our journey. (pg 47)” This quote is absurd in many senses. Pangloss was so naïve in believing this sort of silliness and Candide was so devoted to Pangloss that this was assimilated by him without hesitation. Voltaire might be mocking the stubbornness of high class people. He mocks their hesitation in accepting reality and realizing they do not live like the rest of society. Candide, despite of seeing the worse in society, still hesitates in believing a person would steal from him. Who is capable of stealing while being a rational human? This ingenuity is seen also when the party is on its way to America and they still believe the “best of the best” theory, “We are going to a different world,’ said Candide, ‘and I expect it is the one where all goes well; for I must admit that regrettable things happen in this world of ours, moral and physical acts that one cannot approve of. (pg 48)” By observing the most disgraceful acts in society, Candide’s “best of the best” worlds is crumbling, everything he has believed in is being contradicted by his senses. Because of this, he is desperate to keep believing what Dr. Pangloss taught him, so he begins to take the theory literally. If this world I lived in is in fact, not the best but the worst, then the New World where I am going must be the best wolrd possible. Candide does not want to understand that both Europe and America are part of the same world. Voltaire is criticizing many of the New World colonizers who thought similarly to Candide, their wretched lives in Europe would change by art of magic once they arrived in the “New World”.
Both Cunegond and Candide complained endlessly about their misfortunes, as if they were the most unfortunate souls in the world. This is a very human thing to think, feel that you are the most important part of the universe and if something happens to you it is the worst possible. As I read this, I realized I selfishly felt this way many times in my life. Then Abigail, Cunegond’s assistant tells them her story and the reader can see the contrast between a person who has lived life and a person who hasn’t. Abigail knows she is a mere human amongst million more and what she suffers everyone suffers.

All were killed, both captors and captives, my companions, the soldiers,
sailors, blacks, whites, and mulattoes, and finally the pirate chief; and I
myself lay dying on a heap of corpses. Scenes such as these took place all over
that country, as I know full well – and it is three hundred leagues across. (pg
52)

Had Candide or Cunegond suffered these misfortunes, they would have believed they were the most unlucky people in the universe, or the most hated, or any other superlative. What Abigail has realized and they have not is that everyone has that superlative and everyone goes through terrible hardships in their lifes.
After Candide arrives to America, they are greeted by the governor of Buenos Ayres who is immediately attracted to Cunegond. Here we see a criticism of the arbitrations of power. The governor, realizing he had power, believed he could get Cunegond no matter what Candide felt towards her. At this point I expected Cunegond to say she loved Candide and wanted to stay with his love, but I saw the exact opposite. Cunegond sought the advice of Abigail asking whether she should stay with the governor or not, but she never mentioned Candide in the whole conversation. Cunegond knew she was a criminal and with Abigail’s help realized her best bet to survive and become an aristocrat again was to stay with the governor. Voltaire is criticizing human nature and how self preservation and benefit moves humans beyond morale or values.
In these chapters there is a great mock of religion, be it Catholic or Muslim. “I am the daughter of Pope Urban X and the Princess of Palestrina. (pg 49).” This claim is extremely scandalous as Popes, the holiest people on Earth, are supposed to practice abstinence and work only for God. In other ages Voltaire’s allusion to the actual papacy would have earned him a seat in the stake, but now Voltaire is mocking the Church in two ways: The first being the attack on the Pope’s sanctity and purity. The second attack is that he can say so with little repercussion from the church. Voltaire also attacks the believers of religion by contrasting the real world with religion. “Scenes such as these took place all over that country, as I know full well – and it is three hundred leagues across. Yet they will not miss one of the five daily prayers prescribed by Mahomet. (pg 53)” Killers stop massacring each other to pray. This is ridiculous, yet very true. It reminded me of “la Virgen de los Sicarios” a holy image to which hit men pray to before doing their bloody job. It also reminded me of the Crusades, holy wars to recover Christian land. How can a religion that urges peace and unity amongst all order such butchery? Perhaps the biggest attack on the church occurs when Candide is heading to the Jesuit stronghold in Paraguay:

The reverend fathers own the whole lot, and the people own nothing: that’s what
I call a masterpiece of reason and justice. I don’t think I have ever seen such
godlike creatures as the reverend fathers. They fight the Kings of Spain and
Portugal over here and give them absolution in Europe. In this country they kill
Spaniards, and in Madrid they send them to heaven. Delightful, isn’t it?... (pg
62)

I loved that excerpt. It does a clear satire of the Jesuits who seem to be holy followers on Christ but in reality are like any other political force. They manipulate and act as they please, yet they maintain their reputation of sanctity. This might be perhaps due to the New World where it’s basically an every-man-for-himself game. There is a clean slate and game rules change. Much like Candide, the Jesuits are looking for a new beginning in the new world, and they want power. Voltaire mocks this by showing their hypocrisy. The pledge humility but they own all the land. They kill their benefactors in Europe and send their leaders to heaven in order to maintain favor. Voltaire makes the reader see that religion’s corruption is infinite, whether it is in the terrible world of Europe or the “best of the best” world of America.

For the best? Candid 4-9

After chapter three of Candide, we see a change of attitudes towards the wolrd the charcaters live in. In chapter four, Candide meets a beggar riddled with small pox. This wretched being turns out to be his former tutor, Dr. Pangloss. Candide is horrified at this turn of events and asks about his love, Lady Cunégonde. Pangloss tells him she was raped and killed by Bulgar soldiers who attacked his former home. Candide is grief-stricken at these news, but he knows he must cure Pangloss. He asks James, the Anabaptist for help and his benefactor fervently aids Pangloss. For this, Pangloss becomes his accountant.
At this point, Candide’s perspective of the world begins to change. Two views collide: Dr. Pangloss’ optimistic view of how everything is done for the best and Candide’s bitter real world experiences which prove the “best of the best” is not necessarily true for his world. The reader begins to hope Candide will realize the truth about humankind, about its flaws and mistakes, but the reentry of Dr. Pangloss in such a crucial time slows this whole process down. Pangloss comes and from his new dreaded existence continues to preach optimism.

"Not at all," replied the great man, "it was a thing unavoidable, a necessary
ingredient in the best of worlds; for if Columbus had not caught in an island in
America this disease, which contaminates the source of generation, and
frequently impedes propagation itself, and is evidently opposed to the great end
of nature, we should have had neither chocolate nor cochineal. (pg 30)

When I read this I truly laughed. Pangloss actually says that such a terrible thing as small pox is the best outcome of events because it gave Europe Chocolate and Cochineal. Besides finding this completely ridiculous, it is of the outmost selfishness to see such a disease as a good thing. One might say that Pangloss is selfless because even in his own disease he finds the good for society; however, his actions make it feel that he simply has come to believe only in his theory and that is why he must find the good in everything. This reminded me of occasions when I had to defend a position I disagreed with, I agreed with my attackers but the fact that they were attacking what I had to defend made me fight back and, on occasions, begin to believe what I didn’t believe before. Could Pangloss be in this dilemma? Besides these, the ridiculous defense of Small Pox is an evident tool that Voltaire used to mock optimism of his time.
During the boat trip to Lisbon, we find the first explicit attack on optimism by James the Anabaptist. “Men,’ he said, ‘must have somewhat altered the course of nature; for they were not born wolves, yet they have become wolves. (pg 31)” This stated that men have created war and weapons to kill each other and laws to force the poor to pay the rich, which is entirely against the “best of the best” thought. Pangloss then argues that this is true, but the “best of the best” thought is not individual, but collective so the more misfortunes an individual has, the more it somehow aids others. This argument was clearly used by Voltaire to mock and discredit other thinkers of the time who believed in the common good and not on the progress of the individual. With this idea, he also mixes religion. James the Anabaptist, a non-catholic, is the one who saves Candide from the terrible Catholic priests and is who fights Pangloss’ theories. Voltaire does this to attack the Catholic Church and its terrible power, far outdated and overgrown with corruption. Voltaire places James, the non-Christian, enlightened benefactor against Pangloss, the close-minded, pro-Christian conservative in an ideological combat which is clearly biased. We see Dr. Pangloss as ridiculous, while we see James as the very best of humankind. This is very clear after James drowns after he saved a sailor, “He wanted to throw himself into the sea after the Anabaptist, but the great philosopher, Pangloss, stopped him by proving that Lisbon harbor was made on purpose for this Anabaptist to drown there. (pg 33)” Voltaire purposely refers to James the hero as “the Anabaptist” while he refers to Pangloss, the man who stopped James from being saved, as “the great philosopher” and mocks the way he proved Lisbon harbor was made for James to drown there.
After many hardships such as earthquakes, floggings and the death of Pangloss, Candide finally pops his ideological bubble:

"If this is the best of all possible worlds, what are the others? If I had only
been whipped, I could have put up with it, as I did among the Bulgarians; but,
not withstanding, oh my dear Pangloss! my beloved master! thou greatest of
philosophers! that ever I should live to see thee hanged, without knowing for
what! O my dear Anabaptist, thou best of men, that it should be thy fate to be
drowned in the very harbor! O Miss Cunegund, you mirror of young ladies! that it
should be your fate to have your body ripped open! (pg 37)"

Candide realized the world was not how he had viewed it all his life, humans are not perfect and events are not always for the best. We have now seen how Voltaire places an innocent young man in the real world and turns him from a ridiculous view of life to reality, entirely discrediting optimists such as Pangloss.
At the end of chapter nine, Candide ends up killing his love’s owners. He is now wanted, as well as Lady Cunégund and just a few weeks earlier he would have never thought of murder. Here, Voltaire exemplifies his ideas. If everything is for the best, how could Candide end up killing the Grand Inquisitor “for the best of results” if that same Inquisitor was also allegedly living “for the best results”? Every human forges his own fate, like the corrupt Inquisitor or the murdering Candide. There is no best result, the only thing that matters is what occurred whether it was the best thing or not.

"Let them eat cake" ------ Candid

Voltaire’s Candid is one of the most famous satires in literature. Its first three chapters tell the story of young Candid, who was raised in the castle of a rich Baron, the best castle in the entire world (ch 1). Here he fell in love with a young woman and for that he was exiled from his most perfect home. Afterwards he reaches a town an there he is invited to eat by three gentlemen who, after cleverly talking with Candid, recruit him for the army without him realizing it. In the army, he does his job well after many beatings, but he believes he can still live like he did before and walks out freely. When he is caught he is giving an extreme beating. Later on during a battle he is able to desert the army and he reaches Holland. There he is attacked by a conservative Christian because he didn’t know about the Pope. Scared and alone, he is received by a generous non-Christian who gives him food and shelter. I expect this to be only the beginning of Candid’s problems in the real world.
This novel is a clear satire of high society of the time. The first chapter describes the environment in which Candid was raised, a rich Castle with a rich family and mentored by the greatest mind of the time. Voltaire mocks this alleged superiority to the rest of the world by showing what absurd things are important to them and how they think. “The Baron was one of the most powerful lords in Westphalia, for his castle had not only a gate, but even windows, and his great hall was hung with tapestry (ch 1).” When I read this I found it very funny, the greatest power of the land is measured by a castle that not only had a gate but windows? That is ridiculous! Voltaire attacks the materialism of the high class, he says that the Baron is great because he hunted with mastiffs and spaniels instead of greyhounds, if that be the case, just save for a mastiff and you’re set as royalty! Voltaire then describes the Baroness in a hilarious manner: “My Lady Baroness, who weighed three hundred and fifty pounds, consequently was a person of no small consideration; and then she did the honors of the house with a dignity that commanded universal respect (ch1).” By being an enormous woman, all the adjectives that the speaker uses have the exact opposite effect of their original purpose. “She was of no small consideration” regarding a normal-sized woman would describe her as powerful or capable, but in the Baroness it simply states her weight.
In this chapter, the most hilarious thing is Master Pangloss. This teacher is the greatest philosopher in Westphalia who thinks everything is perfectly done in the world. "It is demonstrable," said he, "that things cannot be otherwise than as they are; for as all things have been created for some end, they must necessarily be created for the best end.” Pangloss’ rationale is very fallacious, he uses circular reasoning for his explanation and, Candid in his ingenuity, believes him. Worse is Pangloss’ examples of this, he says noses are made for spectacles and therefore they use spectacles, or that pork was made to be eaten so they eat pork all year. This is the most absurd examples I have heard. Yet, because Master Pangloss is the family’s philosopher, and therefore the best, we have to believe every word he says.
Another theme found in these three chapters is high class naivety. When Candid is exiled he reaches a town and has tremendous idealist thoughts.

"Have you not a great affection for-"
"O yes! I have a great affection for
the lovely Miss Cunegund. (ch 2)"

What kind of person thinks a complete stranger will state that when he doesn’t know it? Candid thinks he is very important and all his life is very important when in reality that is not the case. Next to this pompousness, Candid thinks two men in uniform treat him so well because they want to be his friends. Even before he was recruited a conscious person would have known they were army officers. He was also naïve enough to think that in the army you were still free, despite being beat several times. He decides to walk freely and in doing so he is breaking the law. His belief in a world created in the “best possible way” makes him think there is no evil in this world.
We can also see the bubble in which high class lives, how could Candid not know about the Pope or the King? According to Voltaire, since they have the money to live comfortably in any situation, the high class doesn’t need to know about anything relevant, they only have to know that they are in that position because it was decided to be so. That reminded me of Marie Antoinette’s comment during the French Revolution, “If they can’t have bread, let them eat cake.”
In this chapter, Voltaire also mocks war. He starts describing with majestic adjectives the killing of 30,000 men like it was a valiant and great thing. In this way he illustrates the sarcasm and hypocrisy of nobles and royalty who favor war because they are not the ones who fight it.

Never was anything so gallant, so well accoutred, so brilliant, and so finely
disposed as the two armies. The trumpets, fifes, hautboys, drums, and cannon
made such harmony as never was heard in Hell itself. The entertainment began by
a discharge of cannon, which, in the twinkling of an eye, laid flat about 6,000
men on each side. The musket bullets swept away, out of the best of all possible
worlds, nine or ten thousand scoundrels that infested its surface. The bayonet
was next the sufficient reason of the deaths of several thousands. The whole
might amount to thirty thousand souls. (ch 3)

This reminded me about phrases like “The Glory of War”, “Noble knights” or “The Beauty of Battle”. All of these I have heard and clearly these were not done by the warriors who fought the battles. War is terrible for anyone who lives it, but only the ones who create it, like kings, enjoy it.