Use of Satire in Voltaires Candide Essay -- Candide essays Voltaire

Successful Use of Satire in Voltaires Candide Voltaires Candide is the spirit level of how one mans adventures affect his philosophy on life. Candide begins his journey full of optimism that he lives in the best of all possible worlds, but he learns that it is nave to say that good will eventually come of any evil. Voltaire successfully uses satire as a means of conveying his opinions about many a(prenominal) aspects of European society in the eighteenth century. He criticizes religion, the evils found in every level of society, and a philosophy of optimism when faced with an intolerable world. Candide portrays ghostly persecution as one of the most worst aspects of society. Voltaire rejects the superstitious beliefs that the church building endorsed. aft(prenominal) the great earthquake in Lisbon, the church seems to think that persecuting a a couple of(prenominal) innocent civilians in an auto-da-f will prevent another disaster. The church should be the most civilized aspect of a society, but Candide is flogged in cartridge holder to a musical procession, Pangloss is hanged, and two others are burned. Voltaire illustrates the irony of the church as a source of violence with the strugglering churchmen that Candide finds in the Jesuit nation in the upstart World. The Spanish priests in the bare-assed World operate on a government where the Fathers have everything, the people nothing...they wage war against the King of Spain and the King of Portugal...they kill Spaniards (Voltaire 53). Ironically, the priests in Paraguay also hold offices in the army. The Baron, for example, holds the title of Reverend Father Colonel. Voltaire stresses the irony of a official of the church that preaches Thou shalt not kill to be an army officer whos traffic is to murder. The cruelty of Christiani... ...ught good out of evil, but because he has made his testify happiness. Well said, replied Candide, but we must cultivate our garden (Voltaire 120). Works Cited and Consulted Bottiglia, William. Candides Garden. Voltaire A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Durant, Will, Ariel Durant. The Story of Civilization Part IX The Age of Voltaire. New York Simon and Schuster, 1965. Frautschi, R.L. Barrons Simplified Approach to Voltaire Candide. New York Barrons Educational Series, Inc., 1968. Lowers, James K, ed. Cliff Notes on Voltaires Candide. Lincoln Cliff Notes, Inc. 1965. Richter, Peyton. Voltaire. Boston Twayne Publishers, 1980. Voltaires Candide and the Critics. California Wadsworth Publishing Company, Inc., 1966. Voltaire. Candide. New York Viking Publishers, 1976.