The Silver Lining in Candide

Through Candide, it is clear that Voltaire attacks the philosophy of being blindly optimistic about everything despite the bad and unfortunate events that happen in reality.  I liked his sharp satire in communicating the absurdity if this naïve point of view because it is unrealistic to view life through the rose-colored lens of optimism, and constantly ignore things for what they really are.

However, despite Voltaire’s attack on this philosophy through Pangloss’s silly character, I noticed that while he includes an extensive amount of events and that range from unfortunate to absolutely horrific, and people that are ignorant or cruel, he also includes somewhat decent characters throughout the story as well.  Jacques the Anabaptist, the Old Woman and Cacambo are the three main characters that demonstrate kindness and loyalty towards Candide in the outside world away from the castle in Westphalia. They give him advice, accompany him in his travels and don’t try to take advantage of his naivety.  Although by the end of the story Cacambo and the Old Woman are relatively miserable and ill tempered, it doesn’t change the kindness of their actions towards Candide. 

While Voltaire is purposely attacking the idea of Pangloss’s form optimism, the characters that help Candide demonstrate that there are instances in the text where he somewhat upholds the philosophy that he is trying to bring down.  While in the characters mentioned above may not be perfect, they exemplify his statement on pg. 56 when he says to Martin “And yet there is some good in the world.”  I believe that although Voltaire emphasizes the absurdity of “blind optimism” by including an extensive amount of events that demonstrates the cruelty that lies within mankind, he still shows that good things do happen, and that the good in people still exists-which allows for a silver lining on which we can look to in the face of harsh reality.