Danish Ali Mr. Barlow Engl 2201 9 February 2016 Literary Analysis I

Danish Ali

Mr. Barlow

ENGL 2201

9 February 2016

Literary Analysis I

Candide is an extremely caustic tale composed by Voltaire in order to mock and condone the mode of political, religious, and philosophical thought that pervaded Europe and spread to colonial regions during the early and mid-1700’s. This along with reprimanding the powers and philosophical reasoning of his time with hilarious hyperbole, Voltaire’s Candide also sheds light on the paradoxes of naïveté, barbarity, and willful ignorance of civilization. Based on the asterisks accompanying the tale, many of the characters and settings in the story are based upon real individuals, historical events, and places. These instances reveal, in an extremely exaggerated manner, the conditions of the circuitous Age of Reason. Several parts of the story interlope and connect people who were distanced through time and space, communicating a larger philosophy of the interconnectedness of humanity, even if morbid. This analysis will focus on specific parts of Candide in order to reveal the paradoxes of human nature in western cultures (El-Dorado), the cruelty inflicted on those with unrealistic optimism (Pangloss) and the reality of those who must suffer for the sins of others (Old Woman).

When discussing the inconsistency of human nature it is unfair to subjugate all humans to this philosophy and apply it where it is due: Western thought, mostly communicated by affluent individuals. Something should be said those cultures that did embody moral nature of their teachings to such an extent that practice of anything outside the moral norm is unheard of. Although Voltaire uses extreme exaggeration to illustrate his many points in the story, there is definitely truth to certain segments of it. When Candide and his manservant

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