Voltaire’s Candide Relevant to Modern Society

Dimattia, Devin English 12 AP breaker point 2 Gonzalez 10-5-11 Does Voltaires Candide connect to Modern Society? The tone and idea of Candide, a classic work of literature, make the novel relevant to todays groundbreaking world. These two elements of the story bring the classic to life for new timess to tie to as they read it. The satiric story unites a new generation of modern readers to a historical past as they identify with both the proposition and tone of the novel as a whole.The tone of Voltaires passing satirical work is humorously fancyless, and the tone is humorous because Candide and his fellow characters travail the idea, set forth by the philosopher Pangloss, that every(prenominal)thing is for the dress hat and there is the trounce of both possible worlds. This blind optimism is negated time after time through the misfortunes that Candide and the remain of the storys characters experience, yet the characters press on with their hopelessly positive attitudes throughout their lives.When confronted with the disgraceful realities of the horrors of life by a scholar, Candide only replies, Ive seen worse, but a prudent man, who later had the misfortune to be hanged, taught me that such things ar exactly as they should be theyre the shadows in a beautiful picture. This tone is achieved by the frightening razets that the characters of Candide demiseure and their disinclination to accept the idea that, maybe, they really argon doomed, and non all is actually for the best.The reader is inclined to consecrate up on hope long before any of the characters do. For example, Candide loses his beloved Pangloss and the kind Anabaptist on his journey to the utopian Eldorado, gets beaten and whipped, kills more than one person, and suffers numerous early(a) misfortunes while still concluding that all is still for the best because he can still find Cunegonde. After Pangloss is hanged, dissected, beaten, and made to row in a galley, he still sees that everything is for the best. Candide asks him, Tell me, dear Pangloss id you still ring that everything was for the best in this world? And Pangloss replies, I still hold my genuine opinions. He goes on to say that his reasoning is due to the fact that he is a philosopher and it would be wrong to take back what he had said. Also, at the end of the novel, Candide, Cunegonde, Pangloss, and the Old Woman all decide that they are prosperous where they are and that they may as well tend their garden, disregarding every horrible thing that they have had to experience in their pasts.Pangloss portrayed this best when he said to Candide at the end, All events are inter-connected in this best of all possible worlds, for if you hadnt been driven from a beautiful castle with baffling kicks in the behind because of your love for Lady Cunegonde, if you hadnt been seized by the Inquisition, if you hadnt wandered over the States on foot, if you hadnt thrust your sword through the baron, and if you hadnt lost all your sheep from the write d declare of Eldorado, you wouldnt be here eating candied citrons and pistachio nuts. This final handbill of proof of their perpetual optimism is consistent with the tone, where Cunegonde is ugly, the Old Woman is disagreeable, and none of the characters are very happy, yet they all stick to busy themselves with something to do and continue being hopeful. The whole group entered into this commendable plan, and each began to exercise his own talents. The theme of Candide is that life is utterly unfair and will continue to give everyone a rough time despite a persons attitude of hope or a faith in everything being for the best. This prominent theme is shown over and over again as Candide and his companions suffer innumerable misfortunes and tragedies even through the existence of their collectively strong belief that everything will exploit out for the best.Each character is traumatized and miserable most of the time. Some are ev en thought to be dead several times. By the end of the novel, the reader is almost in awe that Candide and the others have not stipulation up on life entirely. The reader ultimately sees that it is hopeless to phone that things will turn out well for the characters. However, it is also impossible to believe that they will not continue to live, learn, and try to be happy nonetheless.