Examples Of Utopia In Candide

Utopian Place Equals Dystopian World In Candide, written by Voltaire, is a story where the words "All is for the best," are often repeated by the protagonist, Candide. Among his misadventures that proves that quote wrong, he comes across a city called El Dorado. This city is seemingly a utopia lacking conflict, but all is not as it seems in the utopia. J. Robert Oppenheimer once said “The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.” This book agrees with the quote in that Candide, the optimist, is foolish enough to think that at some point, the world and El Dorado is a utopia. Meanwhile, the careful reader, the pessimist in this quote, knows that for a place to appear to be a utopia, it will have to have some critical issues. If such a place is the best possible world, then …show more content…
Once Candide was kicked out of his home, he was exposed to the real world. Candide remained an optimist for most of the book. He thought all was for the best, misfortune would eventually lead to fortune. After Candide suffered, going without food and sleeping on the ground, he came across an inn where two men treated him to a meal. In the text, it states, "'Come, sir [Candide], sit down. We'll [the two men] not only pay for your dinner, but we'll never let a man like you be short of money. Men were made only to help each other." "You're right," said Candide, "...I see that all is for the best," (18-19). Candide, the optimist in this situation, sees this situation to be a great fortune to his life, but a pessimist with more knowledge about human nature would see that something is not right here. If the outside world is a utopia, then it fails to account for human greed. People are usually selfish. Accepting this help is a mistake on Candide's part as he is forcibly drafted into the Bulgar army, a less than ideal