Forever

Voltaire's Candide is the story of an innocent man's experiences in a mad and evil world, his struggle to survive in that world, and his need to ultimately come to terms with it. All people experience the hardships of life and must overcome obstacles both man-made and natural in order to eventually aceive happiness. After a long and difficult struggle in which Candide is forced to overcome misfortune to find happiness, he concludes that all is not well (as he has previously been taught by his tutor, Dr. Pangloss), and that he must work in order to find even a small amount of pleasure in life.

Candide grows up in the Castle of Westphalia and is taught by the learned philosopher, Dr. Pangloss. Candide is suddenly banned from the castle when found kissing the Baron's daughter. Devastated by the separation from Cunegonde, Candide sets out to different places in the hope of finding her and achieving total happiness. On his journey, he faces a number of misfortunes, including being beaten by an amry, yet he still believes there is a"cause and effect" for everything. Candide is reunited with Cunegonde, and regains a life of prosperity, but soon all is lost once again, including Cunegonde. He continues on, and years later he finds her again, but she is now fat and ugly. His wealth is all gone and so is his love for the Baron's daughter. Throughout Candide, we see how accepting situations and not trying to change or overcome obstacles can be damaging. Life is full of struggles, but it would be nonproductive if people passively accepted whatever fate had in store for them, shrugging off their personal responsibility. Voltaire believes that people should not allow themselves to be victims. In Candide, reality and "the real world" are portrayed as being disappointing. Within the Baron's castle, Candide is able to lead a Utopian life. After his banishment, though, he recognizes the evil of the world, seeing man's sufferings. The only thing that keeps Candide alive is his hope that things will get better. Even though the world is filled with disaster, Candide has an optimistic attitude that he adopted from Dr. Pangloss' teachings. In spite of his many trials, Candide believes that all is well and everything is for the best. Only once, in frustration, does he admit that he sometimes feels that optimism is "the mania of maintaining that all is well when we are miserable" (Voltaire 41). Candide's enthusiastic view of life is contrasted with, and challenged by the suffering which he endures throughout the book. Candide eventually learns how to achieve happiness in the face of misadventure. He learns that in order to attain a state of contentment, one must be part of society where there is collective effort and work. Labor, Candide learns, eliminates the three curses of mankind, want, boredom, and vice. In order to create such a society, man must do the following, love his fellow man, be just, be vigilant, know how to make the best of a bad situation and keep from theorizing. Martin expresses this last requirement for such a society succinctly when he says, "Let's work without speculating; it's the only way of rendering life bearable" (Voltaire 77). One of the last people that Candide meets in his travels is an old, poor Turkish farmer who teaches Candide a lesson which allows him to come to terms with the world and to settle down