Candide

what does candide say about the world we live in

what does candide say about the world we live in

Asked by
Last updated by Aslan
Answers 1
Add Yours

Is evil an intrinsic part of creation or a simple matter of perspective, an arbitrary and random quirk of fate? This ongoing philosophical debate between Candide the optimist and Martin the Manichaean is in fact never resolved in either character's favor. On the one hand, Pangloss's contention that the phenomenon of evil can be rationalized through an intricate web of cause and effect is thoroughly satirized and discredited by Voltaire; on the other, the evidence of man's unrelenting capacity for "lies, fraud, treachery, ingratitude, inconstancy, envy, ambition, and cruelty" proves incontrovertible and points to a sense of pervasive malice in the world. Evil is not exactly necessary but nor is it eliminable.