usthat people must work to reach their utopia (Bottiglia 93). In Candide, reality and "the real world" are portrayed as beingdisappointing. Within the Baron's castle, Candide is able to lead a Utopianlife. After his banishment, though, he recognizes the evil of the world,seeing man's sufferings. The only thing that keeps Candide alive is his hopethat things will get better. Even though the world is filled with disaster,Candide has an optimistic attitude that he adopted from Dr. Pangloss' teachings. In spite of his many trials, Candide believes that all is well and everythingis for the best. Only once, in frustration, does he admit that he sometimesfeels that optimism is "the mania of maintaining that all is well when we aremiserable" (Voltaire 41). Candide's enthusiastic view of life is contrastedwith, and challenged by the suffering which he endures throughout the book.Voltaire wrote this book in a mocking and satirical manner in order to expresshis opinion that passive optimism is foolish (Richter 134).Candide eventually learns how to achieve happiness in the face ofmisadventure. He learns that in order to attain a state of contentment, onemust be part of society where there is collective effort and work. Labor,Candide learns, eliminates the three curses of mankind: want, boredom, and vice.In order to create such a society, man must do the following: love his fellowman, be just, be vigilant, know how to make the best of a bad situation andkeep from theorizing. Martin expresses this last requirement for such asociety succinctly when he says, "Let's work without speculating; it's the onlyway of rendering life bearable" (Voltaire 77).One of the last people that Candide meets in his travels is an old, poorTurkish farmer who teaches Candide a lesson which allows him to come to termswith the world and to settle down happily. The revelation occurs when Candideand his friends hear of the killing of two intimate advisors of the ...
