As the story begins, Candide is expelled from his earthly paradise for kissing the daughter of the baron, who owned this heaven on earth. This marked the point when Candide entered into the real world, where one cannot do nothing and expect to survive. At this point, Candide is pitted into his first struggle between optimism and pessimism. He had just lost everything he held dear in his heart, including his teacher Pangloss, who was his main source of optimism. Pangloss believed that this was th

Candide makes his way Surinam, where he tries to get a ride to Venice on one of the ships at dock. He crosses paths with a man named Vanderdendur who steals his sheep, which is worth a huge amount of money, and runs off. At this point in time, Candide is losing much of his money quick, and yet he still tries to act like everything is alright. Candide then books a ship to France and offers to pay for the saddest man in town to go to France with him. He decided on a man who “had been robbed by his wife, beaten by his son and abandoned by his daughter, who had eloped with a Portuguese” (76). This man’s name was Martin, and ultimately became the embodiment of pessimism for the rest of the book. Martin and Candide then make their way out to sea. They speak of many things including optimism and pessimism and the existence of God. Their conversations were essentially what Voltaire was expressing by writing this book. The meeting of Martin signifies the point at which Candide begins to think for himself. He becomes one of the embodiments at this point, and clearly states that he is living for the love of Cunegonde. His more secular view of optimism here marks a change in his attitude and belief system. Candide finally starts to become the balance between the extremities of optimism and pessimism.

After many misfortunes, Candide became penniless, and ended up in a Bulgar village filled with hostile citizens. All but one of these villagers shunned Candide. This one was James, who when witnessing this cruel and ignominious treatment of one of his fellow men, took him to his home, washed him, served him food, and gave him a gift (24). Even though Pangloss was not by his side anymore, the memory of him was the driving force that kept optimism in his mind. After all the ordeals he had gone through, his hope was inspired once again. After leaving James, Candide walked through the town and saw an old beggar lying on the street. The kindness of James led him to help this pauper, and nurse him to enough health to speak. To much surprise, this man turned out to be Pangloss. Pangloss informed Candide of the happenings at the castle after his leave; that the castle had been kno

Some topics in this essay:
Tabla Rasa, Candide Martin, Atheism Fatalism, Martin Candide, Pangloss Pangloss, Candide Voltaire’s, Voltaire Candide, Cunegonde Martin, Candide Candide, Lisbon Harbor, optimism pessimism, pessimism candide, current society, view life, “best worlds”, martin pessimist, love cunegonde, candide makes, secular view, world created,