The Fallacy of Optimism Exposed in CandideIn Candide, Voltaire paints a sad and satirical view of the world. Voltaire paints a pessimistic portrait of a naive young man raised to believe that this is the best of all worlds. Time and again, Voltaire clearly portrays his belief that this is not the best of all possible worlds. The characters in the story face great adversity. In chapter 10, Cunegonde states that her misfortune is so great that she does not see how the old woman's story of misfortune can surpass her own. In chapters 11 and 12 the old woman then recounts her misfortune. When it ends Candido and Cunegonda are amazed at the difficult moments that this woman had to face. At the old woman's suggestion, Candide and Cunegonde ask the others on the ship to tell their adventures, and, as expected, the others on the boat have stories that can match or surpass Cunegonde's story of woe. Throughout much of the book, Voltaire teases that Leibniz says that according to the hierarchical structure of monads, this is the best of all possible worlds. Candide and Pangloss are the main characters used to satirize the belief that this is the best of all possible worlds. Pangloss is a blind optimist; he refused to see things other than the best. No matter what kind of natural disaster or misfortune befalls someone, Pangloss announces that it will all be for the best. Candide, the naive follower of Pangloss, is at first a blind follower of Pangloss, but eventually comes to reject his teachings. In chapter 3, after meeting John the Anabaptist, Candide states, "I am now convinced that my master Pangloss told me the truth when he said that all is well in this world." However, at the beginning of chapter 4 only a few p...... middle of paper ......t this is not the best of all possible worlds. Even though good things happen during their adventures, Candide's adventure companions face great misfortunes. In the end they are forced to live a life of work, which is not at all befitting of their noble origins. Although very disappointed with their result, everyone except Candido insists that everything is for the best. The sheer absurdity that one could go through so much and end up where they end up and yet claim that everything was for the best reinforces Voltaire's belief in the fallacy of systematic optimism. Works cited and consulted: Frautschi, RL Barron's Simplified Approach to Voltaire: Candide. NewYork: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1998.Lowers, James K, ed. "Cliff Notes on Voltaire's Candide". Lincoln: Cliff Notes, Inc. 1995. Voltaire. White. New York: Viking Publishers, 1996.