An Analysis Of The Novel Candide By Voltaire

Term Paper Title	An Analysis Of The Novel Candide By Voltaire
# of Words	710
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	2.84

An Analysis of the Novel Candide by Voltaire

     The novel Candide  by Voltaire is a great peice of satire that makes fun
of the way people in medievil times thought.  The book is about a man, Candide,
and his misfortunes.  Throughout the book Candide has countless things go wrong
in order to show that this is not "the best of all possible worlds"  Voltaire is
trying to make a point through the exaggeration of the inhumanities of man in a
humorous way.

        The story begins in a castle in Westphalia.  Candide is convinced by
Cunegonde to take a lesson in "experimental physics".  The two are caught and
Candide is kicked out of the castle.  While Candide is suffering from hunger and
cold he is met by two men who trick him into service in the Bulgarian army.
Candide has a terrible time in the army, he tries to escape, and he is punished
severely.  During the confusion of war Candide manages to escape. Time passes
and Candide meets some other interesting individuals and has one bad experience
after the next.  One day Candide meets a woman who takes care of him and this is
none other than Cunegonde.  They amuse each other with stories of misfortune and
travel around the world.  At every place Candide goes something unthinkable
seems to happen to him.   Candide meets several people along the way who all
have their own interesting story of misfortune and the inhumanities of mankind.
Candide ends up on a small farm, married to Cunegonde and living with two
philosophers.  He argues with others at the end of the book if this really is
the best of all possible worlds and they conclude the we must "work without
reason" and "must cultivate our garden".

     In this novel Voltaire is extremely influenced by his frame of reference
and mindset.  He finds room to include almost all of his political views.  He
takes Candide on a journey through all of the wrongs he beleives in the world in
order to prove that it was not the best of all possible worlds.  He shows us the
inhumanities of man through war and social interaction.  He basically paints an
exaggerated picture of the wrongs of medievil people.  Voltaire is just as
biased as any other capable person of the time.  Ever...

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