Candide Blog- Due March 4th

Candide Blog- Due March 4th

Answer the following that reading Candide,

1. Write a summary paragraph of the selection.
A boy grows up in a castle and falls in love with the castle owners daughter. He is exiled. He gets recruited into an army. He gets lashed for believing in freedom. He escapes Holland and is rejected food by the pope. He walks along the street and finds the castle owner as a toothless begger.

2. What philosophical idea is Voltaire satirizing through the work?
That everything happens for the best

3. What are examples of Voltaire satirizing war and government in Candide? What are example of Voltaire satirizing religion in Candide?
He satirilizes war in that if you are in the army you are considered a hero. He wants food but is rejected by the pope.

4. What is the irony in Pangloss's appearance at the end of the selection?
The philosipher at the beginning that he follows turns into a toothless begger.

5. Do you agree with Voltaire's critique of philosophical optimism, or do you think he's too skeptical and bitter toward the idea that everything that happens is for the best? Why or why not?
I believe that everything happens for a reason but not that everything happens for the best.