egin to doubt his own philosophy. Pangloss ultimately changed Candide’s optimistic philosophy. Pangloss preached that wherever one was it was the best possible place to be. Candide had questioned Pangloss on a number of occasions because he felt that there must be a better place to be when there is so much evil where he was. Throughout his life, Candide was affected by optimism in many different ways. Voltaire exaggerates his point on optimism. There is nobody in reality that is so positive about everything all the time, especially about the horrible mishaps that Candide endured. As Candide grew older he became more independent and learned to form his own opinions, he would look at the world and sat exactly what he saw. He had learned to become his own person, to accept life for what it had to offer and that not everything had to be analyzed to decide whether it was good or bad. In every situation where Pangloss was absent, Candide would refer to Pangloss’ spirit, “What would Pangloss think?” Candide realized that “Pangloss cruelly deceived him when he told him that all is best in this world.” (Voltaire 43) For a long time in Candide’s life, he believed strongly in optimism, not because he was forced to, but because he was raised in that manner. Another example of optimism is when Cacambo and Candide stumble upon El Dorado. Candide had been content with his home before stumbling upon El Dorado. The optimism was quickly seen when the two men trade such a perfect society for power, gold, influence and jewels. Although, many people think they need money and jewels to be happy in life they are wrong. The many misfortunes that happened to Candide after leaving El Dorado have a lot to do with turning his back on the idea of optimism.Voltaire also uses satire when he talks about religion in Candide. He mocks religion because he believed that religious organizations, mostly the catholic Church w...
