Voltaire's CandideVoltaire uses many writing techniques, which are similar to those in the works of Cervantes, Alighieri, Rabelais and Molière. The use of various styles demonstrates that, despite the passage of centuries and the change of language, some writing techniques will always be effective. A common literary technique is the author's use of one or more of his or her characters as his or her voice to express his or her opinions on certain topics. For example, in Moliere's Tartuffe, the author uses the character of Cleanthes to denounce religious hypocrites: "Nothing I value and admire more than honest zeal and true religious fire. So there is nothing I find more vile than dishonest specious pity". face." In Candide, Voltaire uses several characters to express his opinion, mocking philosophical optimism. In the story Candide asks a gentleman if all is well in the physical world as well as in the moral universe. The man he replies: "I don't believe in anything like that. I find that in our world everything goes wrong, that no one knows his place in society or his duties, what he does or what he should do, and this outside of meals. ..the rest of the day we spend in useless arguments... it's a never-ending war." By making this character take on such a pessimistic tone, he directly contradicts Candide's obviously over-optimistic actions. In the conclusion an old Turk instructs Candide on futility of useless philosophizing by saying that "work preserves us from three great evils, boredom, vice and poverty". In all the examples, the character chosen by the author appears as a reasonable and respectable person, making him seem reasonable and respectable at the same time the author's point of view. Another technique used by Voltaire in Candide is to take real people and events and weave them into his fictional work, as he demonstrates the conversation between the abbot and the Parisian guests of the dinner. The abbé quotes two critics who criticized his work in Voltaire's time. The critics are called boring and impudent by the guests of the dinner. Similarly, Alighieri, in the Divine Comedy, placed many of his enemies in various circles of Hell. An example is when Dante himself fends off one of his political enemies in the marshy waters of the River Styx..