Blind Optimism In Voltaire's Candide

In Candide by Voltaire, Candide and Pangloss maintain their beliefs that everything that happens is for the best, even though awful things continuously happen to them throughout the story. Their optimism proves to be folly when they make up absurd excuses for why terrible things happen, and this is Voltaire’s way of mocking Enlightenment beliefs similar to Candide and Pangloss’s. Other characters, such as Martin, have succumbed to pessimism as their way of looking at the world, which is closer to how Voltaire thinks the world should be considered. I agree with Voltaire in the sense that blind optimism is both ignorant and dangerous, but I do think that less extreme optimism is essential to living a fulfilling life.

There are many instances

In the story, Martin is a Manichaeist and very pessimistic. For example, Candide says, “But a wise man, who since has since had the misfortune to be hanged, taught me that everything was marvelously well arranged. Troubles are just the shadows in a beautiful picture.” To this, Martin replies, “Your hanged philosopher was joking . . . the shadows are horrible ugly blots.” (141) Although Candide has made a somewhat contradictory statement by saying that the person who told him everything is well is now dead, Martin’s response is still harsh. He seems more right than Candide or Pangloss considering all of the awful things that happen in the story, but his viewpoint is still flawed. It is not true that everything that happens is pointless, evil, or leading to the end of the world as Martin or Voltaire might believe. Considering this, it is ignorant to disregard anything positive that happens as having a hidden evil agenda. Just as inexplicable bad things happen, inexplicable good things happen as

It also has less to do with believing that everything is for the best and more to do with simply appreciating the good in the world. When one chooses to focus only on negativity, it can actually be more dangerous than blind optimism in the long run because it causes one to become unnecessarily depressed and numb to reality. That is no way to live one’s life; some degree of optimism is necessary to be happy. Everything that happens may not all be part of a plan or for the greater good, but there are most definitely good things that happen in life. To me, being optimistic means appreciating those things and hoping that good things will happen to you. For the last few years or so, I have tried to adapt my own way of thinking to this kind of optimism and it has benefited me greatly. It is not necessary to force oneself to believe that everything that happens is good or for the greater good. That is just not reality, but what is reality is that both bad and good things happen. When one focuses on the actions of love and goodness and how important they are to all happiness and success that is found in the world, one also realizes that those positive happenings are truly what matter in the long