Candide by Voltaire. Specifically it

¶ … Candide" by Voltaire. Specifically it will discuss Candide's movement from a state of innocence to one of experience, and what Candide gains and loses through these experiences. Candide and his mentor, Pangloss, are the "eternal optimists" in this satirical novel of life, love, and philosophy. Candide's experiences in the novel should lead him to become bitter, distrustful, and full of hatred for those who have mistreated him, but like "Pollyanna," Candide remains remarkable cheerful and upbeat throughout his adventures. He loses his innocence in a way, but through all his experiences, he always remains positive in the face of opposition and horror. In fact, his optimism is a satire on both religion and philosophy, and so, by the end of the book, Candide's experiences would have certainly affected others, but Candide, because of his naivete and incurable optimism, allows all his experiences to roll off his back. Ultimately, Candide loses nothing through his experiences, although he is less naive than when he started out. He still puts his faith in others, and sees only what he wants to see in the world around him.

At the beginning of the novel, Candide is a naive youth living a life of privilege in a rich Baron's castle. He loves the Baron's daughter, Cunegonde, and admires the castle philosopher, Pangloss. Evicted from his home for kissing Cunegonde, he begins a series of adventures that indicate just how naive he is, and how he always views the world with optimism, no matter what happens to him. He has the peculiar talent of only acknowledging the good things that happen to him, while ignoring the bad. Early in the novel he tells one of his "saviors," "Master Pangloss has well said that all is for the best in this world, for I am infinitely more touched by your extreme generosity than with the inhumanity of that gentleman in the black coat and his lady'" (Voltaire 12). He repeats this throughout the novel, and so, he does not learn to be bitter or unhappy when he is treated unfairly. Rather, he simply concentrates on what is good in his life, and so, he never really changes from the naive young man sent out on his own, he simply grows older and experiences more adventures.

Unfortunately, as this passage later in the book proves, he never matures past this ability to ignore the bad and only see the good. Later, he says, "You see,' said Candide to Martin, 'that crime is sometimes punished. This rogue of a Dutch skipper has met with the fate he deserved.' 'Yes,' said Martin; 'but why should the passengers be doomed also to destruction? God has punished the knave, and the devil has drowned the rest'" (Voltaire 101). Again, Candide concentrates on the good of the incident, rather than the bad, and he never overcomes this weakness in his personality.

Of course, Pangloss, who continually shows up throughout the novel, is responsible for Candide's attitude. He has taught the boy to be optimistic in the face of everything, and practices it himself. After the earthquake he says, "For,' said he, 'all that is for the best. If there is a volcano at Lisbon it cannot be elsewhere. It is impossible that things should be other than they are; for everything is right'" (Voltaire 21). Candide seems incapable of coming up with many ideas on his own, but he is quite good a parroting the ideas of others, and Pangloss is his mentor and idol, so he follows his thoughts blindly, never questioning them or developing true reasoning and deduction skills throughout his adventures.

Throughout his experiences, the reader would expect Candide to become bitter and disillusioned with the real world. He is beaten, taken advantage of, conscribed into an army, nearly killed several times, accused of numerous crimes, and generally mistreated and abused wherever he goes. He also meets many unfortunate people who have suffered as much as he has, or even more. Yet he never questions the sanity of all this depravity, or what kind of "God" or other being would allow it all to happen. It simply is "right" because Pangloss has said it is right, and that everything that happens is supposed to happen. Candide has little ability for deductive thinking or rational thought; he simply follows the ideas of others and rarely has any of his own. For this reason, he does not really grow or learn from his experiences. He may have more experiences and seen more horror than many people, but at the end of the story he is still essentially the same Candide he was at the beginning. He may be older, but it is questionable whether he is any wiser or not. He does find happiness at the end of the novel; but it is not through philosophy and thought, but rather, it is the contentment and joy of decent work. Through all his adventures and experiences, all he has learned is to work hard and wait for the reward that will ultimately follow. Most people would come away from such varied and violent experiences profoundly changed, but Candide is still basically who he was at the beginning of the story - a naive young man who only sees the good in everything.