The central
messageconveys in is that all is not for "the best in the best of all
possible worlds." The book satirizes and debunks that philosophy, which had gained traction
in the mid-eighteenth century (when Voltaire wrote this work). Voltaire shows that world is a
miserable, corrupt place for the people who actually encounter it and don't simply read about it
safely from afar. Candide gets caught up in a series of horrible adventures that are so
over-the-top terrible they become laugh-out-loud funny. To some extent, a reader doesn't know
whether to laugh or cry: for example, when Candide's beloved, Cun©gonde, explains,
matter-of-factly, that it is possible to survive rape and disembowelment, as she has
done.
Voltaire shows that the people who are supposed to make the world a
better place, such as the clergy, participate in spreading the misery: Cun©gonde is shared as a
prostitute, for example, between a Jewish merchant and a Grand Inquisitor (Catholic
priest).
When...
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