Philosophical themes in Voltaire's Candide

¶ … Voltaire wrote Candide, he wrote a masterpiece of satiric literature in which he explored many philosophical questions of the day. Many of those issues intersected with each other, so putting them together in one treatise was a useful way to look at them as they interacted in a fictional story. This paper will look at five of those issues: fate, evil, personal choice, religion, and optimism.

To tell this tale, Voltaire used two main characters: Candide and Pangloss. Neither name seems to be an accident. Candide wants to discover the true nature of the philosophical issues he is grappling with. Pangloss is optimistic to a level of caricature, which suggests his name, glossing over everything, no matter how unpleasant or even evil it seems.

FATE

In Chapter 20 (third paragraph from the end), this conversation takes place about fate:

You see," said Candide to Martin, "that vice is sometimes punished. This villain, the Dutch skipper, has met with the fate he deserved."

Very true," said Martin, "but why should the passengers be doomed also to destruction? God has punished the knave, and the Devil has drowned the rest."

In this exchange, Voltaire reveals the difficulty of assuming that some divine power rules our fate, using it to mete out justice. Candide has judged the Captain "a knave" and finds him worthy of death. His companion points out, however, that many people apparently not as worthy died as well. Why should their fate be tied to that of the Captain's? If God is good, then He cannot be responsible for the death of the others. Is it then God and Satan working together? Has God agreed to let Satan take innocent people so God can punish the guilty? If so, then God is not completely in charge of fate. Voltaire suggests that perhaps disasters just happen when they will happen, without any divine intervention. It seems unlikely that there's any rational plan to drowning many innocent passengers just to deal with one evil Captain. The boat could have burned when only the Captain, or Captain and crew were on board, reducing the innocent carnage. The Captain could have been hit by a runaway cart in the market.

Chapter five opens with a discussion of an earthquake in Lisbon that destroyed three fourths of the city. Once again one must assume that most of Lisbon's residents did not deserve this fate.

EVIL

Voltaire spared no words when describing evil events - that is, acts of mankind against mankind. Candide has a discussion with an old woman who describes the horrific experiences of one young woman. The old woman says (Chapter 12, 10th paragraph):

Figure to yourself the distressed condition of the daughter of a Pope, only fifteen years old, and who in less than three months had felt the miseries of poverty and slavery; had been debauched almost every day; had beheld her mother cut into four quarters; had experienced the scourges of famine and war; and was now dying of the plague at Algiers."

Later in the book (Chapter 14, 8th paragraph) he describes the evils of war in the ability of men to rationalize what they do. Cacambo says:

Oh, it is an admirable government, that is most certain! The kingdom is at present upwards of three hundred leagues in diameter, and divided into thirty provinces; the fathers there are masters of everything, and the people have no money at all; this you must allow is the masterpiece of justice and reason. For my part, I see nothing so divine as the good fathers, who wage war in this part of the world against the troops of Spain and Portugal, at the same time that they hear the confessions of those very princes in Europe; who kill Spaniards in America and send them to Heaven at Madrid. This pleases me exceeding justice and reason. For my part, I see nothing so divine as the good fathers, who wage war in this part of the world against the troops of Spain and Portugal, at the same time that they hear the confessions of those very princes in Europe; who kill Spaniards in America and send them to Heaven at Madrid. This pleases me exceedingly..."

The issue of good vs. evil appears often throughout Candide and goes to the heart of the book. It forces the reader to consider whether optimism is always appropriate. Candide comes across other examples of evil as well through his travels, such as the easy confidence of Inquisitors.

RELIGION

Voltaire was not subtle in his criticism of religion. In his travel he notes the hypocrisy inherent in religious practices of his day. For instance, in Chapter 18 (paragraph 13) he reports this exchange where Candide asks about the religion of El Dorado:

Cacanbo could not refrain from making many more inquiries of the old man; he wanted to know in what manner they prayed to God in El Dorado.

We do not pray to Him at all," said the reverend sage; "we have nothing to ask of Him, He has given us all we want, and we give Him thanks incessantly."

Candide had a curiosity to see some of their priests, and desired Cacambo to ask the old man where they were. At which he smiling said, "My friends, we are all of us priests; the King and all the heads of families sing solemn hymns of thanksgiving every morning, accompanied by five or six thousand musicians."

What!" said Cacambo, "have you no monks among you to dispute, to govern, to intrigue, and to burn people who are not of the same opinion with themselves?"

In conclusion, Voltaire used Candide to force his readers to look closely at the religious, social and philosophical assumptions of his times. Many people in the privileged classes may have agreed with Pangloss at the beginning of the book, that they would be hard-pressed to improve the world they lived in, but only the privileged classes could afford the luxury of philosophizing about the nature of life.

Bibliographical Data

Text of Candide, by Voltaire, came at http://www.ericjonas.com/features/candide/fulltext/default.asp.

Accessed via the Internet 2/25/02