Candide 2

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is optimism. Out of every unfortunate situation in the story, Candide, the main character, is advised by his philosopher-teacher that everything in the world happens for the best, because "Private misfortunes contribute to the general good, so that the more private misfortunes there are, the more we find that all is well" (Voltaire 16). Pangloss, the philosopher, states that everything has a purpose and things are made for the best. As Candide grows up, whenever something unfortunate happens, Pangloss turns the situation around, bringing out the good in it. Candide learns that optimism is "The passion for maintaining that all is right when all goes wrong"(Voltaire 86). Because of Pangloss’s “great knowledge,” Candide is a very naïve and impressionable youth who regards Pangloss as the greatest
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philosopher in the world, a reverence that will soon be contradicted by contract with reality (Frautschi 75).
"Voltaire...made him, Candide, acquainted ...

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all the time, especially about something so terrible.
According to Linguet, "Candide offers us the saddest of themes disguised under the merriest of jokes" (Wade 144). It seems as if Candide was written as a comedy, not because of humor, but because every time something bad occurs, a quick turn of events
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happens which bring everything back to normal. One moment, Candide murders the brother of the woman he loves; the next moment, he travels to a land where he sees women mating with monkeys. In instances like these, it does not seem that Voltaire is serious about tragic events.
During the course of Candide's journey, an earthquake ...

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