Candide by Voltaire

Candide by Voltaire

…"I am still of my first opinion," answered Pangloss, "for I am a philosopher and I cannot retract"

Candide is widely known to be one of the most influential works of French literature. While I haven't read a lot of French literature, I found this lampoon quite interesting because of its quick wit, fast-pace, tongue-in-cheek humor & intelligent sarcasm.

Candide's plot is a lampoon on Leibniz's philosophy of evil. Leibniz believes that this world is the best of all worlds. Voltaire takes us through the story of Candide who goes through various hardships in his life- he is thrown out of Baron's care, beaten by armies, pirates, closed to being burnt. Even the people he cares about go through similar hardships- women are ravished and men are burnt and enslaved.

Despite all these hardships Candide remembers his teacher's words- this world is the best of all worlds. Leibniz had tried to counter two problems to prove that God indeed has created the best world- first that God is an underachiever who failed to create  the best world, second God is not holy if he accommodates evil and perhaps even causes it. We see Candide often asking similar questions through the story when he suffers. However, he still does not try to change his mind about this philosophy. Even Pangloss, his teacher, towards the end of the story, no longer believes in the maxim. Still, he refuses to retract his opinion. This goes to show how people often have too much faith in philosophers without testing the philosophy themselves. Voltaire seems to say that we trust famous people too much, rather than cross-examining their ideas. Perhaps, Voltaire wants us to detach ideas from people and test their logic.

All in all, Candide is a superb short read and would not disappoint a reader looking to read something comic yet meaningful.