Literary Luminary: Blind Optimism

"Observe that noses were made to wear spectacles; and so we have spectacles. Legs were visibly instituted to be breeched, and we have breeches. Stones were formed to be quarried and to build castles; and My Lord has a very noble castle; the greatest Baron in the province should have the best house; and as pigs were made to be eaten, we eat pork all year round; consequently, those who have asserted all is well talk nonsense; they ought to have said that all is for the best" (Page 20).

This passage is the perfect representation of how Voltaire's work Candide is a satire - the use of irony, hyperbole, absurdity, and target. This specific quote is said by Pangloss, who is Candide's teacher and philosopher. He believes in optimism where "all is for the best" to the extent that it becomes blind optimism. It is one thing to use a bit of optimism during difficult times and another thing to keep persisting on optimism no matter what. Pangloss, a parody of philosophers at this time period, says some ridiculous things that the readers know are not true. Noses were not made to wear spectacles but in order to breathe and smell. Voltaire turns what we consider common knowledge into something over the top to make Pangloss look idiotic. Thus, blind optimism is the main target of Voltaire's satire. This is further proven when he includes descriptions of several disasters continuously in a row. First, Candide is banished from the Baron's palace and is on the verge of starvation. Then, he is put into military service where he suffers from maltreatment. He goes to Holland only to be warded off by the orator and thrown human excrement. Later, he meets his professor who contracted syphilis, experiences a huge storm during their journey to Lisbon, a disastrous earthquake in Lisbon, etc. If "all is for the best," then why is Candide experiencing such hardships? Voltaire does this to simply point out the cruelty of the world and to illustrate his outright rejection of optimism and all the philosophers who follow this belief.