Conversely, Martin was created to show the opposite end of the spectrum. Martin embodies the tenets of pessimism in that he does not believe that everything is for the best in this world, nor does he believe in some natural “good.” He acknowledges the presence of evil in the world and does not try to justify it through convoluted logic, like his counterpart. In telling the story of his life, Martin refers to the fact that he is a “Manichee” (101). Manichaeans see the universe in terms of the dual forces of good and evil and believe that these two forces are equally powerful and continually in conflict (Copleston 71). The precepts of Manichaeism directly conflict with Pangloss’s optimism, since a world dominated in part by evil cannot be perfect or perfectible. Martin’s ideas provide an enlightening counterexample to the beliefs espoused by Pangloss and Candide.
In the beginning, Candide’s education consists only of what Pangloss has taught him. His expulsion from the castle marks Candide’s first direct experience with the outside world, and thus the beginning of his re-education. Candide’s experiences in the army and the war directly contradict Pangloss’s teachings. The world of the army is full of evil, cruelty, and suffering. Powerful members of the nobility start wars, but common soldiers and subjects suffer the consequences. Neither side of the conflict is better than the other, and both engage in rape, murder, and destruction. After deserting the army, Candide traveled to Lisbon, where even more tragedy is bestowed upon him.
Voltaire based the Lisbon earthquake on an actual historical even that affected him deeply. A devastating earthquake on November 1, 1755—All Saints’ Day—leveled Lisbon and killed over 30,000 people, many of whom died while praying in church (Ayer 4). The earthquake challenged a number of Enlightenment thinkers’ optimistic views of the world. In seeking to explain this phenomenon, Pangloss attempts to console victims by proving that things could not be otherwise. He states that “for if there is a volcano at Lisbon, it could be in no other spot, for it is impossible but things should be as they are, for everything is right” (59).
The Seven Years’ War and the Lisbon earthquake are merely two examples of reality contradicting the core components of optimism. In Candide, Voltaire employs a multitude of disasters—the majority of which are far-fetched and exaggerated. However, these two real world occurrences are Voltaire’s strongest pieces of evidence against optimism due to their unpredictable and ravaging natures. What explanation could one logically give for the carnage of war and the unwarranted suffering of thousands? This is the conclusion that Candide comes to, leading to the abandonment of his belief in optimism. When asked, "What's optimism?" by Cacambo, Candide replies, "Alas...it is a mania for saying things are well when one is in hell" (96).
The city of Eldorado is portrayed as the utopian society or the realization of Leibniz’s theory that this world is the best. Eldorado is Voltaire’s ideal world—one that he knew could never exist, but could provide him with an agent to point out the sad failings of the real world. In contrast, the perfect city revealed the flawed world in which Candide lived. In reference to Eldorado, Candide stated that there was “no comparison between this country and the castle where I was born” (88). However, the high mountains surrounding Eldorado serve as a shield to the outside world and represent the fact that such a city is unattainable by the society of Voltaire’s day. In Eldorado, every person is on an equal, class levels do not exist, and crime is nonexistent. These are far reaches from the greedy, aristocratic culture of Europe.
Though not completely a pessimist himself, Voltaire satirizes the optimism of the 18th century Enlightenment thinkers in Candide. Through the misadventures of a young German optimist and his philosophical friends, Voltaire satirizes the logic used by his contemporaries to prove that everything is right and happens for a reason. He also ridiculed the view that the world was perfect because God was perfect, including a few poignant jabs at religion, namely the Catholic Church. Candide's observance of the horrors of war, devastating earthquakes, the Inquisition in Portugal, and tyranny represent real world dilemmas, while Eldorado represents an oasis of perfection in the real world that is incapable of being realized. Voltaire utilized satire, characterization, and techniques of exaggeration and contrast to attack Candide's two-dimensional outlook on life and to disprove the overly optimistic philosophy that Candide and Pangloss represent.
Works Cited
Alexander, Ian W. "Voltaire and Metaphysics." Philosophy 19.72 (1944): 19-48. Cambridge University Press. Web.
Ayer, A. J. Voltaire. New York: Random House, 1986. Print.
Boden, Margaret A. "Optimism." Philosophy 41.158 (1996): 291-303. Cambridge University Press. Web.
Copleston, Frederick Charles. Religion and Philosophy. New York: Barnes & Noble, 1974. Print.
Voltaire, and Eric Palmer. Candide, Or, All for the Best: the 1759 Nourse (London) Translation, Revised. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2009. Print.
Wilson, Catherine. "Leibnizian Optimism." The Journal of Philosophy 80.11 (1983): 765-83. Journal of Philosophy, Inc. Web.