Candide (or Optimism)

Pick it up: If you are in the mood for a biting (but humorous) critique of religious dogma, and societal institutions. If you’re someone who likes to ponder the big questions (free will, the nature of evil, the search for meaning in a chaotic world); if you’re going through a challenging time, and could use a pragmatic message that can help you find meaning and purpose in the face of adversity. (Those who are highly sensitive to graphic depictions of violence should probably stay away, but these are rendered in such an absurd and often comical manner that we found it palatable.)

The protagonist Candide lives a good life in Westphalia, under the good graces of the brilliantly-named Baron von Thunder-ten-tronckh, who houses, feeds, and educates the young man. Candide’s tutor is the venerable Pangloss whose central philosophy that he expounds every chance he gets, is that everything is always for the best, that we live in the best of all possible worlds. That if something has happened, however troubling, it is still the best of all possible outcomes. Candide absorbs this philosophy and tries to see the world in this way. But one day, his life changes - caught flirting with the Baron’s daughter Cunegonde, Candide is immediately and unceremoniously expelled by the Baron from Westphalia, and is now adrift, having to find his own way in the world. 

What follows is an account of his extensive travels, with a revolving door of companions (including Pangloss and Cunegonde at different times), and to say he has a hard time of it would be a massive understatement. Everything that could possible go wrong, does, and in the most alarming manner. There are wars, shipwrecks, slavery, rape, torture, hangings, all of which makes Candide increasingly question Pangloss’s world view. 

After this series of catastrophes, the surviving group finally settle down on a farm, in Turkey. There, in a chance encounter with a simple farmer working his land, they learn the secret to happiness - that one must cultivate one’s own garden (“Il faut cultiver notre jardin"). In other words, we would be well served if we find our own (metaphorical) patch of land, and tend to it, and try not to let the matters of the world, over which we have no control, destroy our peace of mind. 

The novel is an extreme satire, and the events that occur are improbable, involving massive coincidences, and reversals of fortune that will leave you incredulous. Voltaire was taking a shot at Leibnitzian optimism. Human nature is what it is, and all the malevolent forces that existed in the 18th century exist today - in a different shape perhaps, but they are there. That’s what makes this book timeless; its central lesson is a useful reminder whenever the world around us plunges into turmoil - sadly a frequent occurrence.