Essay --

Candide is a famous French satire written by French philosopher, Voltaire. In this satire, Voltaire humorously ridicules Leibnizs belief of optimism, the violence the legions employ during war and the duplicity of religion. This essay aims to describe some of the techniques that Voltaire uses to satirize Leibniz through the character of Pangloss, the multitude 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 philosophical optimism. According to Leibniz, we live in the ruff 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 are for all being created for an end, all is necessarily for the top hat end. (Chapter 1, p1) Throughout this novel, no matter the misf ortunes Pangloss encounters, he would defend optimism by claiming, all is for the dress hat then continue to justify the possible reasons for such an occurrence. One crowing example would be when Pangloss had unfortunately contracted syphilis from Paquetta, yet he reasoned 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 frequently impedes propagation itself, and is evidently opposed to the great end of nature, we should have had neither deep brown 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 unimportant with the exception of a few like Jacques, and the characters in Candide seem to be accustomed to such occurrences, displaying little shock at their unholy b ehavior. 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. Humor was achieved through the irony and exaggeration he modishly wove into his novel, making it much easier for the readers to swallow despite the novel being highly critical of his modern society, addressing many serious issues.