| Term Paper Title |
Voltaires Candide |
| # of Words |
779 |
| # of Pages (250 words per page double spaced) |
3.12 |
Voltaire's "Candide"
Voltaire was a talented, assertive, and controversial French writer from the
eighteenth century enlightenment period. He was born in 1694 to a wealthy
family in Paris, and given the name Francois-Marie Arouet. During the early
years of his life Voltaire endured many hardships. For instance, his mother
passed away when he was seven leaving only his father and older brother to
raise him. Unfortunately, this added insult to injury as Voltaire despised
both his father and brother. Nevertheless, Voltaire's determination allowed
him to rise above his early misfortunes, and he later went on to pursue
college at the College of Louis-le-Grand in Paris. Once there he studied
literature, despite his father's wishes that he pursue a carreer in law. It
was during this stretch of the young writer's life he first voiced his
oppositions on the established church and government in France. By the young
age of twenty two Voltaire was exhiled to Sully-sur-Loire for writing a
satire of the Duke of Orleans, the ruling regent of France. Voltaire's bouts
with those in power continued throughout most his life. In fact, he was
subject to brief spells in prison on more than one occasion for aggrevating
the reigning Monarch.
Despite French governmental attempts to deter or imprison him, Voltaire went
on to become an exeptional philosopher, author, and leading figure of the
enlightenment
The overall message of "Candide" is that every human being has the power to
carve out their own destiny, and is not subject to God's grand plan, or
predestination. In addition, Voltaire used the book to drive home his belief
God did not divinely pick the world from the cosmos and therefore "the best
of all possible worlds". To get his propositions across Voltaire constructed
the character Dr. Pangloss, the tutor of young Candide. The name Pangloss
translated meant "windbag", and implied a person was all talk. Early on in
the piece Pangloss made it evident he thought the world he lived was God's
first choice when he stated, " since everything was made for a purpose, it
follows that everything is made for the best purpose (20)." Of course his
philosophy was passed on to Candide who took it with him, as he set out on
his own. However, as the story progresses Candide encounters much chaos, and
brutality that forced him to question his beliefs. One example i...Read entire document
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