Candide Essay

Candide, a story written by Voltaire, dives into the deep miseries of mankind such as that of greed, extortion, slavery, and the folly of optimism. Yet, the writer Voltaire himself is no stranger to the aforementioned evils. Voltaire was a well-known philanthropist, anti-semite/racist, and was not completely opposed to the idea of optimism with the exception of those who let it control their life. What Voltaire wasn’t, was a devout Christian. I believe that Voltaire uses the story of Candide to satirize the hypocrisy and corruption of established organized religions through the use of irrationality and hyperbole despite the dominant role in religious organizations played at the time. 

Voltaire grew up in late 16th-century Europe, a location which at the time, was primarily dominated by Christianity. It is said in Christianity one must follow the basic virtues of humility, kindness, temperance, and prudence, Yet, despite these established virtues the religious figures within the story of Candide often act against them, commonly through the use of violence or wrongful misjudgment. One instance of such actions appeared in Chapter 6 of Candide in which a sequence of sacrifices were dealt by those in religious power to prevent further earthquakes from appearing, believing that the pain and suffering of others, guilty or not, would suppress the occurrence of a natural event. In the text, it is stated, “that the burning of a few people alive by a slower fire, and with great ceremony, is an infallible preventive of earthquakes.” The event presented to the reader is one of extreme circumstances, showing the use of hyperbole within the context of the satirical piece.  The few selected people put up for sacrifices were seemingly chosen at random, showing the unmerciful nature and lack of sympathy that those belonging to organized religion show to people who are of a lower class than themselves. To many readers, the implication that the pain of others would suppress a natural occurrence may seem absurd, and to some extent it is. There is no scientific evidence to support the idea, which further exemplifies the role that irrationality plays in the story. Yet, despite the obvious exaggeration of the situation, irrational decision-making through the means of religion has occurred quite frequently throughout history, one example being the Witch Trials. Philosophy and science often conflict with the viewpoints of religion, and Voltaire being a philosopher wants the reader to make note of this fact. He wants the reader to understand that it is because of organized religion’s lack of open-mindedness that irrational decision-making is often made which negatively impacts the lives of others. These irrational decisions often conflict with the virtues established in said religion, thus making the members of these organized religions hypocrites. 

In the previous paragraph, I make note of how some of the select virtues of Christianity are humility and kindness, yet, in the world of Candide humility and kindness is a hard things to come by, even when in the presence of those associated with Christianity. In Chapter 3 of the Story Candide, Candide escapes Holland and wanders across a village in desperate need of food and shelter. Soon after, he happens to come across the home of an orator and his wife, both of whom are implied to be Christian. The Orator first presents Candide with a question regarding his faith to which Candide replies that “Yes”, the pope is the antichrist. Angered the Orator replies, “Thou deservest not to eat or to drink, wretch, monster, that thou art! Hence! avoid my sight, nor ever come near me again while thou livest.” Shortly after, “The orator's wife happened to put her head out of the window at that instant, when, seeing a man who doubted whether the Pope was Antichrist, she discharged upon his head a utensil full of water.” Rather than making the decision to help Candide who is very clearly in need of help, the Orator instead questions the man's faith, implying that the Orator and those of some religious power measure the goodwill of a man on the basis of their faith and not their true character. To the orator it doesn’t matter how desperate Candide is. So long as Candide does not follow the same faith, or holds conflicting viewpoints to said faith, then Candide is no longer worthy of any help. The mindset which the Orator displays directly conflicts with the Christian values of charity. In Christianity, it is believed that it is your personal mission to give back to those in need of help. And yet, in this instance, the Orator shows no sympathy for the man suffering from true hunger. This is another example in the story in which a member of organized religion displays true hypocrisy, showing no willingness to help a starving man even if it is an encouraged act within the realm of their respective religion. In the situation presented, the couple reacts to Candide's statement in an exaggeratedly aggressive way, playing into the satirical nature of Candide which heavily uses hyperbole as a device to carry its main themes. In this scene Voltaire mocks the existence of organized religion, believing that it enables people to think that they are held to a higher power than others, only further splintering the gap between social classes and general lack of human compassion. Throughout a large portion of our history there have been many instances in which organized religions have contributed to overall social inequality. In general, religion can cause those of lower social class to be more accepting of their position, meanwhile, those of the religious hierarchy stay at the top of power. It prevents fluctuating levels of social classes and causes there to be a general state of deadlock within society. For example in India, there is an established Caste system that pre-determines the social status and position of an individual based on family social class. The top remain at the top whereas the poor will likely remain poor. I believe that Voltaire wishes for organized religions to have less power and influence within society as it would afford for more individuals to gain success through their own hard work and actions rather than through a birthright. These are the changes that Voltaire wants to see employed in society, and he uses Candide as a medium to speak his opinion about such controversial topics. 

 An occurrence that maybe even Voltaire himself experienced during his lifetime. 

In short, it is clear that the story of Candide is a heavily satirized piece of writing, written by Voltaire to mock what he perceived as the existing issues of the world at that time. Candide discusses many topics such as greed, social hierarchy, folly optimism, and most notably hypocrisy in relation to religion which Voltaire had very strong opinions on. I believe that Voltaire uses the story of Candide to satirize the hypocrisy and corruptness of established organized religions at the time through the use of irrationality and hyperbole. Voltaire uses this story as a medium to bring awareness toward his feelings about organized religions through satirical writing.