Evil Prevails Good
One cannot escape evil. No matter how much good one intends to accomplish, it is difficult to overthrow evil by it. Initially known as Francois-Marie, Voltaire is a profound writer of the eighteenth century known for his controversial pieces. Utilizing strong message-conveying mechanisms, Voltaire employed satire and wit to transmit his controversial messages to the people of the eighteenth century. Although the government did not appreciate Voltaire’s attempt to satirize it, he became well-known for witty intelligence, and won the hearts of many through his analyzation of English philosophy and societal norms. His biggest rivalry was the church and the state due to immense amounts of tyranny unfair treatment of the people …show more content…
Pangloss, a profound mentor who tries to convey philosophical messages that are far-fetched and not applicable to Candide’s daily encounters, is a part of the school of thought by the name of “…metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nogology” (4). Mirroring the philosophies of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a mathematician philosopher who claimed the existence of pre-destiny, Pangloss’s optimistic theories are proven to be irrelevant to Candide’s journey as they cannot possibly be a valid explanation for the different kinds of hardships Candide faces. Voltaire constantly satirizes G.W Leibniz through Pangloss which depicts how ridiculous he considers such philosophers to be. These types of philosophers try to provide any kind of explanation possible for why evil exists because they believe that all evil is accompanied by some kind of good which overcomes the evil if not matching up to it. Pangloss tries to argue that human beings experience some events as being “evil” because they are unable to understand the bigger meanings behind them. The bigger meaning behind these negative events, according to Pangloss, is that this world is created by God for a reason, and humans are put in certain situations for a reason, and that reason is a good outcome because nothing can ever go wrong in a world created by a perfect God. Voltaire’s argument that optimism is illogical is conveyed through the death of Candide’s loyal and trustworthy friend, Jacques. Jacques, a good friend of Candide, embarks on a journey via ship with Pangloss and Candide, where he falls of the ship to his death. When he saw that a sailor had fallen overboard, “Good Jacques rushed to the sailor’s rescue…but fell into the sea from the effort…”and the sailor did not even attempt to help his savior (16). This event that took place right before Candide’s eyes overtakes the notion that all
One cannot escape evil. No matter how much good one intends to accomplish, it is difficult to overthrow evil by it. Initially known as Francois-Marie, Voltaire is a profound writer of the eighteenth century known for his controversial pieces. Utilizing strong message-conveying mechanisms, Voltaire employed satire and wit to transmit his controversial messages to the people of the eighteenth century. Although the government did not appreciate Voltaire’s attempt to satirize it, he became well-known for witty intelligence, and won the hearts of many through his analyzation of English philosophy and societal norms. His biggest rivalry was the church and the state due to immense amounts of tyranny unfair treatment of the people …show more content…
Pangloss, a profound mentor who tries to convey philosophical messages that are far-fetched and not applicable to Candide’s daily encounters, is a part of the school of thought by the name of “…metaphysico-theologo-cosmolo-nogology” (4). Mirroring the philosophies of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, a mathematician philosopher who claimed the existence of pre-destiny, Pangloss’s optimistic theories are proven to be irrelevant to Candide’s journey as they cannot possibly be a valid explanation for the different kinds of hardships Candide faces. Voltaire constantly satirizes G.W Leibniz through Pangloss which depicts how ridiculous he considers such philosophers to be. These types of philosophers try to provide any kind of explanation possible for why evil exists because they believe that all evil is accompanied by some kind of good which overcomes the evil if not matching up to it. Pangloss tries to argue that human beings experience some events as being “evil” because they are unable to understand the bigger meanings behind them. The bigger meaning behind these negative events, according to Pangloss, is that this world is created by God for a reason, and humans are put in certain situations for a reason, and that reason is a good outcome because nothing can ever go wrong in a world created by a perfect God. Voltaire’s argument that optimism is illogical is conveyed through the death of Candide’s loyal and trustworthy friend, Jacques. Jacques, a good friend of Candide, embarks on a journey via ship with Pangloss and Candide, where he falls of the ship to his death. When he saw that a sailor had fallen overboard, “Good Jacques rushed to the sailor’s rescue…but fell into the sea from the effort…”and the sailor did not even attempt to help his savior (16). This event that took place right before Candide’s eyes overtakes the notion that all