All Is Not For The Best Essays -- essays research papers fc

"All is Not for the Best" 10-K Candide Voltaires Candide isthe story of an innocent mans experiences in a mad and badworld, his struggle to survive in that world, and his need toultimately come to terms with it. All people experience theturmoil of life and moldinessiness get well obstacles, both naturaland man-made, in order to eventually achieve happiness. Inlife, "man must find a medium between what Martin (scholarand familiar spirit to Candide) calls the "convulsions ofanxiety" and the "lethargy of boredom"" (Richter 137). Aftera long and difficult struggle in which Candide is forced toovercome misfortune to find happiness, he concludes that allis non well (as he has previously been taught by his tutor, Dr.Pangloss), and that he must work in order to find even asmall amount of merriment in life. Candide grows up in theCastle of Westphalia and is taught by the learnedphilosopher, Dr. Pangloss. Candide is abruptly exiled fromthe castle when fou nd kissing the Barons daughter,Cunegonde. Devastated by the separation from Cunegonde,his true love, Candide sets out to distinguishable places in the hopeof finding her and achieving total happiness. On his journey,he faces a number of misfortunes, among them beingtortured during army training, yet he continues to believe thatthither is a "cause and effect" for everything. Candide isreunited with Cunegonde, and regains a life of prosperity, moreover soon all is taken away, including his beloved Cunegonde.He travels on, and years later he finds her again, but she isnow fat and ugly. His wealth is all gone and so is his love forthe Barons daughter. Throughout Candide, we see howaccepting situations and not trying to change or overcomeobstacles can be damaging. Life is full of struggles, but itwould be nonproductive if people passively acceptedwhatever fate had in store for them, shrugging get through theirpersonal responsibility. Voltaire believes that people shouldnot allo w themselves to be victims. He sneers at naive,accepting types, informing us that people must work toreach their utopia (Bottiglia 93). In Candide, reality and "thereal world" are portrayed as being disappointing. Within theBarons castle, Candide is able to lead a Utopian life. Afterhis banishment, though, he recognizes the evil of the world,see... ...appiness. Hebelieves, in his optimistic way, that he will find Cunegonde,his true love, and Dr. Pangloss, his mentor, and all will bewell. When Candide is reunited with both he realizes that hewas right not to lose hope. In essence, it was Candidesoptimism that keeps him from a state of total dejection,maintaining his sanity during troubled times. Candideeventually achieves happiness with his friends in their simple,yet full, lives. The books ending affirms Voltaires moral thatone must work to attain satisfaction. Work helps Candideovercome his tragedies and enables him to live peacefullyand in contentment. The message of Cand ide is "Dontrationalize, but work Dont utopianize, but improve. Wemust cultivate our own garden, for no one is going to do itfor us" (Richter 161). Works Cited Bottiglia, William."Candides Garden." Voltaire A Collection of CriticalEssays. New Jersey Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Richter,Peyton. Voltaire. Boston Twayne Publishers, 1980.Tsanoff, Radoslav. Voltaires Candide and the Critics.California Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 1966.Voltaire. Candide. New York Viking Publishers, 1976.