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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
This is a 3 page paper that provides an overview of satire in "Candide". The use of contrasting characters such as Pangloss and Martin is explored. Bibliography lists 2 sources.
Page Count:
3 pages (~225 words per page)
File: KW60_KFvolta5.doc
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
Voltaires attack; he satirizes not just one element of society, but a number of social conditions, philosophical views, contemporary events, and so on. To accomplish this multifaceted attack, Voltaire uses
a number of secondary characters who act essentially as mouthpieces for various targets of Voltaires ridicule. This paper will explore how Voltaire deftly makes use of these secondary characters to
accomplish his satirical purposes. This paragraph helps the student provide an overview of the philosophical underpinnings of Pangloss character. The first character who fills such a role in the narrative
is Candides tutor, Pangloss. Pangloss optimistic philosophy is a direct satire on a particular piece of philosophical writing that had been put forth in Voltaires time by the thinker Leibniz.
The linkage is made abundantly clear by Pangloss invocation of the phrase, "the best of all possible worlds", which is a direct quote from Leibniz attempted resolution of the famous
Problem of Evil (Voltaire 2006; Murray 2005). While admittedly a gross simplification of the original formulations, the Problem of Evil basically asserts that God doesnt exist because his existence is
irreconcilable with the existence of evil in the world, and Leibniz counter was that God had made "the best of all possible worlds". The purpose of having a character
act as a mouthpiece for Leibniz optimistic defense of Christianity was that Voltaire, like many other Enlightenment thinkers, believed that religion was a false superstition, a belief system mired in
an ancient way of thinking that would hold humanity back. By having a character try to live by Leibniz claims, the effect is absurd - the manifest effects of evil
in the material world are visited upon Pangloss at all turns (he is beaten, imprisoned, and stricken with syphilis during the course of the narrative), yet he retains his optimism
...