Tamar and Rachel Candide Assignment

        We learned many things from the sites about Candide. First, we learned the book actually falls under a precedented category. Candide, with his jejune opinions, typifies the flawed protagonists of picaresque novels. Picaresque novels are typically about imperfect, yet endearing heroes, and the stories of their lives. Candide lives through many hectic episodes, and rationalizes events callowly. Although, Candide's story is also one of bildungsroman, meaning a story containing one's spiritual education. After Candide is disenchanted, he finally has misgivings about Pangloss' optimistic beliefs, and therefore undergoes a spiritual metamorphosis. 

        At the start of the novel, Candide agrees with Pangloss over the philosopher's world views. Pangloss is practically blind to the evil surrounding him, claiming our world is the best of all possible worlds. But after Candide witnesses tragedy and brutality, he concludes that there is indeed evil around him. As we learned from the video of Dr. Paul LeClerc, Candide believed there is evil in the world, yet there is still a window of hope. Candide seemed to surmise that with staunch efforts, one can resist the evil and change the world for the better. 

       Candide's conclusions seem to reflect those of Voltaire, as Pangloss represents Leibniz's school of thought. Leibniz also stated, in Monadology, that our world is the best of all possible worlds, and it seems Voltaire criticizes this belief through the use of satire. Voltaire wrote the novel shortly after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, and therefore refused to believe such tragedy could occur in the best of all possible worlds. In addition, the pictures in the digital gallery shed light on Voltaire's generation, and the cause of his indignation. The photo of the execution in Lisbon, shows how cruel religious persecution was at the time. One can imagine why Voltaire couldn't see the world with a wide-eyed, optimistic approach. Voltaire was surrounded by depravity and persecution, and therefore believed the world must change.

 
       In conclusion, we learned from the various links that Voltaire uses Candide as his pawn, and at the end of Candide's bildungsroman, he comes to Voltaire's own conclusion. Both Voltaire and Candide believe in fighting against the evil around us, and Voltaire subtly argues this point through his picaresque novel.