Candide 1.0

Candide was written by Voltaire being his wittiest novel.

In its time it was a powerful tool for political attack on Europes degenerate and immoral society. The work vividly and satirically portrays the horrors of eitheenth-century life: civil and religious wars, sexual diseases, despotic rulers, the arbitrary punishment of innocent victims - the same enduring problems we witness today.

Through the constant misfortunes of Candide, Voltaire poses meaningful questions about the nature of suffering. Pangloss philosophy is eagerly and enthusiastically accepted by Candide in the beginning of the novel.

But toward the end of his life he refutes this Utopian theory, concluding that diligence in labor is the only answers to a life constantly riddled with bad luck. Indeed, Voltaire teaches that man is incapable of understanding the evil in the world, and concludes that the fundamental aim in life is not happiness, but survival.