Eploring the theme of Optimism in Voltaire's Candide
...sand people. The fact that Voltaire uses this exact number shows that the situations are meant to mirror the horror of the 1755 Portuguese earthquake that originally inspired Voltaire to question the idea of Optimism) The inhumanity of the events he is describing loose their sense of severity by Voltaire’s application of optimistic philosophy. Secondly, Voltaire shows the character of Doctor Pangloss as a follower of the Optimism of the time and through this character's exaggerated belief system, shows the absurdity of this philosophy. Voltaire purposefully makes Pangloss an object of ridicule, his teachings consisting of observation such as ‘For, since everything is made for a purpose, everything must be the best possible purpose. Noses, you observe, were made to support spectacles: consequently, we have spectacles. It is this confused logic that makes Pangloss the epitome of the learned fool and creates another point of ridicule directed at Optimism. Pangloss’ strength of belief is shown when he contracts a venereal disease and still is unconcerned, unable to see it as an example of bad things happening as he nevertheless manages to apply the cause and effect theory. ‘It was a thing unavoidable , a necessary ingredient in the best of worlds; for if Columbus has not caught in an American isle this disease which poisons the spring of generation, and often even stops it…we should have neither chocolate nor cochineal.’ Pangloss constantly bends facts to fit in with his theory so that he does not have to question his own philosophy, in this example he manages to justify his own situation as although he suffers because of Columbus’ excursion more good came out of it than bad. Voltaire does not use the character of Pangloss just to ridicule the philosophy though; he also uses the character to stress the possible dangers of this philosophy. There are many incidents that show the pernicious to Optimism yet the most notable is Pangloss’ response to the death of James the Anabaptist. When James falls overboard and is about to drown, Pangloss refuses to help and stops Candide from getting involved as he ‘cogently argues that Lisbon roads had been specially contrived so that the Anabaptist might drown in them.’ Voltaire is drawing attention to the inhumanity of Pangloss’ reaction, unlike Candide he acts with no compassion. This fatalism is ridiculous allowing Pangloss’ to carry away no guilt for his passivity and heartlessness because he is able to construct a rational excuse for this tragedy. By adhering to this philosophy of optimism it follows that Pangloss is able to absolve himself of any culpability in James’ death as ‘things cannot be otherwise than they are’. Aside from Pangloss, Voltaire employs vibrant secondary characters who act as a catalyst for Candide’s disillusionment of philosophical optimism. ‘Each figure encountered addresses some facet or other of the hero’s persona, and their interplay effectively reveals Candide to Candide.’ The secondary characters also represent types of responses to the human condition, allowing Voltaire to try and show a wide spectrum of human emotion and response. The old woman who Candide meets a balanced voice between philosophical optimism and pessimism; she is portrayed as a voice of common sense and practicality, cynicism only through experience. ‘A hundred times I wished to kill myself, but my love of life persisted. This ridiculous weakness is perhaps one of the most fatal of our faults. For what could be more stupid than to go on carrying a burden that we always long to lay down? To loathe, and yet cling to, existence?’ Due to the old woman’s parentage, as she is an illegitimate child of the Pope (Voltaire here making a statement against the morality of the church) one cannot attribute her unwillingness to commit suicide to the fact that God and the Christian doctrine forbid this act. However, despite the obvious pessimism that is apparent throughout this passage, in reference to all the misery and suffering there is in the world, what captures the reader is the idea that people in spite of all this misery cling to life because they love it. This is one of the few moments where Voltaire can be seen to be endorsing optimism. Not philosophical optimism but optimism in the sense that people are ‘inclined to take a favourable view of circumstances, and to hope for the best; being hopeful and confident about the future’. In total opposition to the philosophical optimism that Pangloss embodies is the character of Martin; he believe that everything is for the worst - philosophical pessimism. Martin is equally important to the development of Candide as Pangloss is ‘For only once Candide has resolved the conflict between the two opposing speculative theories represented by Pangloss and Martin, only once…he has interiorised their divergent influences, can he emerge in chapter 30, with the self-understanding required for his final role as Voltaire’s spokesman.’ Unlike Pangloss, though Martin’s view that everything is for the worst is sometimes correct. This reiterates for the reader that this philosophical optimism is never correct in Voltaire’s world and emphasises the ridiculousness of it. An example of this occurs in chapter 14 when Candide and Martin meet Pacquette and Friar Giroflee. Candide naively assumes that they are both happy in life, as when he sees them they are both smiling, whereas M...