Candide Thesis and Outline

Martin's pessimism is much more appealing than the optimism of Pangloss because it deals with reason, thoughts of enlightenment, and reality where Pangloss tries to fake the Earth as a perfect society through his love of religion.

I. Martin's pessimism is realistic and uses logic.

A. His pessimistic attitude is really a realist attitude, he only seems like a pessimist compared to Pangloss.

B. Martin uses reason like an Enlightenment thinker.

1. Martin says good things come with bad things, and vice versa, basically saying nothing is as good as it seems, but also nothing is as bad as it seems.

II. Pangloss bases his optimism on his religion.

A. He says that anything that happens is the best possible situation.

1. Candide has jewels stolen from him but the boat with the jewels crashes (chapter 19).

a. Martin says this cannot be the best possible outcome because the innocent passengers were also killed.

B. Pangloss ignores anything that goes against his beliefs by making absurd arguments to reaffirm his faith in God.

III. Pangloss's beliefs are a parody of Leibniz's philosophy, while Martins views represent Voltaire.

A. Leibniz's philosophy is that everything in the world is perfect because it is created by a perfect God.

1. Pangloss argues the same thing in a satirical, over-the-top way in the novel.

B. Martin's beliefs go along with the beliefs of Voltaire.

1. Voltaire prefers a philosophy that is based on reason and past experiences over religion.

a. Martin had tragic situations in his life that caused him to think with reason when situations came about for Candide.

2. Martin was created by Voltaire to express his own beliefs in the book and to contradict Pangloss and Leibniz.