Social Evils In Voltaire's Candide

Voltaire was a Frenchman, an author, a philosopher, and a poet. Voltaire was born and raised in the ideas of the Enlightenment period of early 18th century Europe. He wrote and spoke about all topics; raising eyebrows and stirring up controversy among all who heard of him. He said of Christianity that it was “the most absurd and most bloody religion which has ever infected the earth”. He called Mohammed a “sublime charlatan”. His challenging of religions, philosophies, and institutions at times resulted in his exile from whatever country he happened to be residing in at that time. Voltaire was known for his wit and satirical tone which made readers laugh and cringe at the same time.

Of course, Voltaire’s writings were not solely to infuriate those around him (although it does seem to be a goal of his in some cases), but also to address the numerous social ills during that time period. Specifically in his book, Candide, Voltaire uses satire regarding the characters and situations in order to address and/or explore social ills in his society. There was at that time a growing following of Leibnizian optimism which simply states that everything happens is for the best. This has been distorted into the idea that everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds. Voltaire saw the faults in this “logic” and became especially disillusioned when the Great Lisbon Earthquake hit in 1755. This particular tragedy not only inspired a scene from Candide, but also left tens of thousands dead in its wake. It gave Voltaire more justification for his argument against Leibniz and his followers.

Besides philosophies, Voltaire also utilized his various techniques of writing to posit his opinion about issues such as the class system, the w...

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...his optimism. Voltaire was so infuriated with the idea that someone could take solace in the deadliest earthquake in Earth’s history simply by saying that it must have been for the best or that it must have been meant to be. He drags this philosophy through the rest of the novel wherein many more injustices and tragedies occur. Still the optimism lives on until the very end. Living on a small farm having lost all his riches and married to an ugly woman, Candide finally becomes disillusioned with everything being for the best. Candide finally understands what Voltaire has been trying to make clear throughout the story. Candide sees that nothing is meant to be, and all that we have is nothing more than all that we have made. Candide finally understands that he must cultivate his own garden in order for anything to grow, not only from his land, but also from himself.