This essay examines Martin, a minor character in Voltaire's satirical novella Candide, as the primary vehicle for Voltaire's own philosophical and social criticisms. Positioned as the antithesis of the blindly optimistic Dr. Pangloss, Martin voices a Manichean worldview that exposes the greed, injustice, and corruption embedded in human nature and eighteenth-century French society. The paper traces Martin's key arguments throughout the narrative, considers the limits of his pessimism, and ultimately argues that while Martin is himself something of a parody, his outlook most closely mirrors Voltaire's own skeptical yet humane perspective on the world.
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"All is for the best in this best of all possible worlds." So Voltaire's Dr. Pangloss proclaims in the satire Candide. The novel skewers the philosophy of the idealistic philosopher Leibniz, with whom Voltaire disagreed vehemently. Leibniz believed that the world existed in a state of perfect harmony. The unbridled optimism embodied by Pangloss is constantly undermined by the horrible events in the world around him — inquisitions, rapes, and murders — all of which expose the hollowness of that cheerful creed.
To challenge the Panglossian philosophy of optimism, Voltaire introduces a man named Martin, who functions as Pangloss's antithesis. Martin, like all of the characters in the work, has survived countless horrors, but he seems to see the world clearly, unfiltered by dogmatic philosophy. Martin calls himself a Manichean — someone who believes the world is evil and was created by an evil god, while true heaven lies in a pure and isolated realm.
Of all the characters in the novel, Martin argues a philosophy closest to Voltaire's own. "I scarce ever knew a city that did not wish the destruction of its neighboring city; nor a family that did not desire to exterminate some other family. The poor in all parts of the world bear an inveterate hatred to the rich, even while they creep and cringe to them; and the rich treat the poor like sheep" (Chapter 20). In other words, neither the poor nor the rich are truly good, and the world is innately unjust.
When Candide points to the sinking ship of the Dutch captain who swindled him as evidence of God's goodness, Martin replies: "Very true… but why should the passengers be doomed also to destruction? God has punished the knave, and the Devil has drowned the rest" (Chapter 20). This pattern continues throughout the satire: wherever Candide sees something good, Martin peers beneath the surface and finds evil.
Martin calls the world "mad" and says that nothing surprises him any more. However, when pressed to articulate his philosophy fully, his personal ideology does not appear entirely Manichean. He sees the world less as actively evil than as governed by an unchanging and unalterable human nature. "Do you believe… that hawks have always been accustomed to eat pigeons when they came in their way?" (Chapter 21). In Martin's view — supported by every event in the novel — humans are by nature greedy, driven to accumulate as much as possible regardless of the moral codes they violate in the process.
"Martin as parody; compassion beneath cynicism"
"Rejecting extremes; cultivating one's garden"
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