Compare And Contrast Pangloss And Candide

There are many characteristics has that can make a person similar to other people in a world, even if people do not notice those traits. This happens in Voltaire’s book titled Candide or Optimism has where a reader can barely manage to discover qualities that all the characters have in common. The work of fiction historical importance to the harsh life during the Eighteenth Century. The main character is a man named Candide who believes that the world is filled with good people and many other things. Another character is Candide's tutor and philosopher named Pangloss, who gives nothing but kind words and assistance people. In this book, Pangloss is the character who is most relatable to the reader because he is pitiable, caring, and a consistent …show more content…
Pangloss, in particular, gains the attention and pity of readers due to the beliefs and his resulting actions having terrible consequences. The story begins by making Pangloss the character who is most similar to Candide, as these two characters are optimists who believe everything happens for a greater good, which was a shared worldview in Voltaire's time. This, unfortunately, leads to both Candide and Pangloss being in dangerous situations due to their supposed radical views. An example of this is shown when Pangloss explains his views about free will towards the Grand Inquisitor in Lisbon (35). This results in him being hanged while Candide is flogged for agreeing with Pangloss's views. However, Pangloss survived the hanging and was cared for by a local surgeon. The aftermath of the pain he received is related in a stronger sense, as he goes through punishments that were used in the Eighteenth Century. This results in Pangloss being more pitiful to the reader, which in turn makes him a more relatable …show more content…
In the book, Pangloss not only was an instructor to Lady Cunegonde, but he was Candide's. He taught, both Candide and Lady Cunegonde, his philosophical beliefs in the world along with a subject that Voltaire made up in a comedic sense to laugh at other fields of study. The proof of the Student-Teacher relationship that the two have with each other is when Candide would always "listen to him during his teachings with an unhesitating faith" (20). This proves the role model that Pangloss is to Candide, as people who were with others that influenced their lives and views. As the teacher are influencers to a student's life, where the students wish to be like them.In many different situations throughout time, students have had a strong relationship with their instructors; where the professors become a sort of role model for their pupils. Although, Candide shows how much consistency that Pangloss gave when held in the same optimism until he "renounced it after learning on how his slave Cacambo was sold to whitelords" (86). This helps the reader to understand how much influence that Pangloss is to Candide, after giving his student much wisdom through views that he does not wish to release from