Satire In Candide

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Throughout all of “Candide”, a satirical novel by Voltaire, the characters struggle to define a perfect world and its translation to the European reality they are living in. When Candide, the protagonist, and his companion Cacambo come across El Dorado, their actions reveal the ideals of mankind and the implications of living in a perfect world. El Dorado was not created by Voltaire in that according to legend, it was a place established by Incas taking refuge from the Spaniard attacks. The place was filled with gold and riches and thus an intense but always unsuccesful target of European conquests. The utopia El Dorado has an abundance of resources to eliminate poverty and create an advanced education system. There is equality among all classes …show more content…
Through Cacambo as his interpreter, he exclaims “What!” “You have no monks among you to dispute, to govern, to intrigue, and to burn people who are not of the same opinion as themselves?” (71). This rhetorical question directly revealed Voltaire’s opinion on the exploitation of the church in Europe as compared to Eldorado which endorsed Voltaire’s ideal religion, much along the lines of Deism. The old man of the village responds saying “Do you take us for fools? Here we are all of one opinion,” (71). The villagers of Eldorado view Candide’s questions as absurd, yet their simple agreeable religion is only maintained by the solidarity of El Dorado itself. The equality of power created by the abundance of resources prevents corruption in that an individual has no way of seizing more power over others, and thus corruption ceases to exist. There is no religious hierarchy, no unnecessary clergy and no dictator of the church, yet the allure of this perfect world is not enough to satisfy Candide and Cacambo. Voltaire is not endorsing corruption but their subsequent leave symbolizes the unattainability of a society in which there is no

Candide Satire

Chaz Gordon Candide was written by Francios-Marie Arouet also know as Voltaire. He was a very famous writer for his time. His works, especially this book, is still well known and is still read to carry on his theories of the world in his time. The novel, published by himself, was written in 1759. Voltaire also published this book in France. My teacher selected this book for our class to read to strengthen our knowledge on the age of enlightenment along with past time periods and events. Voltaire…

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How Does Voltaire Use Satire In Candide

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