Essay --

Candide is a famous French irony written by French philosopher, Voltaire. In this satire, Voltaire toughnessously ridicules Leibnizs tone of optimism, the violence the military employ during war and the hypocrisy of religion. This essay aims to chance upon some of the techniques that Voltaire uses to satirize Leibniz through the character of Pangloss, the military through the Bulgarian War, and religious figures through the hypocrisy of the Grand Inquisitor and the Friar, showing how the humor is achieved in the description of the characters.One of the important figures Voltaire satirizes would be Leibniz and his theory of philosophic optimism. According to Leibniz, we live in the surmount of all possible worlds and Voltaire ridicules this in his novel by introducing the character of Pangloss who also believed that things cannot be otherwise than they atomic number 18 for all being created for an end, all is necessarily for the best end. (Chapter 1, p1) Throughout this novel, n o matter the misfortunes Pangloss encounters, he would defend optimism by claiming, all is for the best thusly continue to justify the possible reasons for such(prenominal) an occurrence. One prominent pattern would be when Pangloss had unfortunately contracted syphilis from Paquetta, yet he conclude that it was a thing unavoidable, a necessary ingredient in the best of worlds for if Columbus had not caught in an island in America this disease, which contaminates the source of generation, and oft impedes propagation itself, and is evidently opposed to the great end of nature, we should have had incomplete chocolate nor cochineal. (Chapter 4, p8) The foolishness and incessant belief of Pangloss optimism is thoroughly displayed here as Voltaire uses the technique of irony ... ...ous figures in Candide seem to almost all be corrupted and deceitful with the exception of a few like Jacques, and the characters in Candide seem to be accustomed to such occurrences, displaying little s hock at their unholy behavior. Such a manner of portraying these characters further enunciates Voltaires view on various religious people.In conclusion, through techniques such as irony, exaggeration, parody and understatement, Voltaire effectively satirizes Leibniz, the military and religious figures, mocking Leibnizs philosophy of optimism, disapproving the brutality of the military and criticizing the hypocrisy of religious figures. liquid body substance was achieved through the irony and exaggeration he cleverly wove into his novel, making it a lot easier for the readers to swallow despite the novel being highly critical of his fresh society, addressing many serious issues.