The purpose of Candides satire is to contrast comedy and tragedy

voltaire satirizes natural disasters by exxagerating eatrthquakes and plagues.

Candide mocks religion with Eldorado. He gave it heaven aspects , such as streets of gold and other riches

" 620 BC: Draco, Athenian law-maker, was smothered to death by gifts of cloaks and hats showered upon him by appreciative citizens at a theatre on Aegina."

Candide discussion questions

Question 3:

1. Within the context of the novel, Eldorado really is the “best of all possible worlds.” Overflowing with riches, ruled by an enlightened king, it is a land with no need of courts or prisons, where the inhabitants lack nothing and live in a state of continual gratitude. Why do Candide and Cacambo decide to leave such a paradise and return to a world riddled with greed, lust, ignorance, dishonesty, and cruelty, a world where violence both savage and civilized is the norm? What aspects of human nature is Voltaire satirizing when he writes that “our two happy wanderers resolved to be happy no longer and to seek His Majesty’s permission to depart” (p. 49)? 

When Candide and Cacambo leave El Dorado they leave behind the best they’ve had their entire journey. I believe at that time of the book they were ignorant to the troubles of the world. They left thinking they could survive on the riches and jewels without harm or evil occurring to them. This was an ignorant action because if there is evil elsewhere and this is the best of all possible worlds, then surely they had the possibility of being robbed of their possessions because robbing is an act of evil. They were too optimistic about their fortunes and success.

Question 12:

1. At the end of the novel, Martin says, “Let us set to work and stop proving things, for that is the only way to make life bearable” (p. 93), echoing the Turkish farmer who says, “our work keeps at bay the three great evils: boredom, vice, and necessity” (p. 92). Do you think Voltaire is endorsing this view? Why would doing physical work be preferable to the life of a philosopher? 

 At the end of the book they meet a farmer who cultivates a garden. They travelers are impressed by his life style. They decide to mimic the farmer’s lifestyle and cultivate their own garden. When doing this Martin, Pangloss, and Candide had a tendency to discuss philosophy which in turn always turned into an argument/ debate. Martin says, “Let us set to work and stop proving things, for that is the only way to make life bearable”, this is referring to the way philosophers think. They critically analyze everything and find new troubles and always want to find the answer of “why”. That is why the physical labor is useful for the philosophers because if they had not begun cultivating the garden then they would begin to question the new lifestyle everyone was now living, and being that Candide is very impressionable he would have followed them and would have agreed. If this were to happen the travelers would begin wandering again looking for happiness in a world that is the best of all possible worlds.

8. Near the end of the book, while Pangloss was “being hanged, and dissected, and beaten, and made to row in a galley,” he still holds firm to his original views that this is the best of all possible worlds. “I am a philosopher after all. It would not do for me to recant” (p. 88). What are the dangers in holding beliefs that are impermeable to reality, that do not alter according to actual experience? The dangers in holding beliefs that are impermeable to reality make you unaware or cautious of death.

 A: When you hold the belief that all is meant for good then you ignore the idea or truth of certain things which could possibly lead to “certain death” and isn’t the goal to stay alive? Pangloss believes that he is put in each situation for a particular reason. For instance while he was enslaved on the boat with the Jesuit,”The Baron” he says that it meant to be when Candide found him. That everything that happened to him should have because it led him back to Candide, yet in his face you could see the bare truth of how he felt which happens to be the exact opposite. So is it humanly possible to have this mindset.

 11. Martin believes that man is equally miserable wherever he lives and that even in cities which are free from the ravages of war, “men are more devoured by envy, cares and anxiety than all the tribulations visited upon a citadel under siege. Private griefs are crueler even than public miseries” (p. 56). Is Martin’s view more accurate than Pangloss’s, or does it simply represent the other extreme? Would you agree that “private griefs are crueler even than public miseries”? 

A: I believe that Martin has the view of the realistic extreme, while Pangloss has a less realistic extreme. They both believe in their opinions strongly, and for something to become real all you have to do is make it so in your head. Just because there positions are polar opposites doesn’t make one right and one wrong. Private griefs aren’t necessarily any crueler than other tribulations. Things like such are justified off your own mental strength and ability to withdraw from certain situations and make the best of them like Pangloss. More or less like Martin who will dwell on the idea that God has left us to suffer is personally a weaker standpoint. In some eyes that makes me stronger, in others weaker.

What is Voltaire suggesting about the exaltation of romantic love? 

Candide’s love for Cunégonde is the driving force of his journey in the novel. The irrational lengths to which Candide goes to pursue his love, including abandoning the paradise of El Dorado, committing multiple murders, and barely avoiding capture and execution, are mocked by the reality that once Candide can marry Cunégonde, he’s no longer attracted to her. He suggest that romantic love is only lust. Candide was after Cunégonde because of her beauty. Once, she became ugly and Candide was no longer attracted to her, feelings went away, making romantic love only desire. No real romantic love seems to exist in Candide