1. Voltaire presents many out of the ordinary and ridiculous characters. Each character has a dramatic untold story, which they reveal to the reader. Furthermore, the characters have unimaginable and sad stories; however, these backgrounds present the characters as unrealistic beings to the reader. For example, the old woman is a character that presents an unreasonably bad story. She fell from a high-class, rich position only to be enslaved and raped by many men, and to finally have half her buttocks eaten. So much bad and unfortunate events strike one person that the character seems outlandish and absurd. Even though the characters are unrealistic they do have depth. The ludicrous stories and backgrounds of each character give them depth along with their satirical relevance. For example, many of the religious character serve the purpose of mockery because Voltaire is satirizing organized religion. The Grand Inquisitor, who originally enslaved Cunegonde, was a Christian who held a position in the Catholic Church. He was later killed by Candide, which ultimately does not show much respect to this religious figure. Although the characters have depth, they are surface creations because Voltaire’s purpose for his work is to present to the readers a mockery of many things that Voltaire strongly believes in, either positively or negatively.

2. Voltaire presents many events and settings for Candide; however there are a few elements that unify the entire story. Three elements are: the process of disillusionment in the mind and heart of Candide; the search for Cunegonde; the testing of Pangloss’s theories by juxtaposing them against reality. First, the tutor and philosopher, Pangloss, taught Candide for a long time so Candide only knows what Pangloss knows and only believes what Pangloss believes. Candide begins to realize what Pangloss said was wrong by his adventures and growth throughout the book. This can be seen through many of the events especially in the following scene. At the end of the story, Candide realizes the importance of hard work and the significance of adopting a realistic and reasonable way of life. In fact, when Pangloss begins to mention the Garden of Eden out of the Bible, Candide politely addresses Pangloss without any other committed feelings and quickly gets back to cultivating his own garden (shows that he is concentrating on reality). The search for Cunegonde is another major element that ties the book together. From the beginning when Candide was forced to leave Cunegonde, he was on a mission to find her, love her, and marry her. This is seen through all the places in which Candide goes, because he only goes to a certain location if he has the motive to find Cunegonde there. For example, Candide sends Cacambo, his servant, to go find Cunegonde in Venice. Later, Candide goes all the way to Venice to find Cunegonde but only runs in Cacambo who states that Cunegonde is in Constantinople. Candide was disheartened but he did not give up. As the author can guess, Candide goes to Constantinople to find Cunegonde and will not give up until he finds her even if it means going through the most absurd and dangerous events. Finally, the third element that ties the novel is the testing of Pangloss’s theories by juxtaposing them against reality. Candide strongly believes in Pangloss’s theory of “everything happens for a reason.” This theory is tested by many of the events in Candide’s adventures and is denied by the stories of many of the characters. For example, the old woman’s story definitely does not show a positive situation. She is born rich and ends up working as a servant with a history of rapes and servitude to men, along with having her rear end half eaten. All of these three elements predominantly tie the entire story of Candide.

Voltaire greatly satirizes most of the aspects on the list provided. Voltaire criticizes organized religion in general and the Catholic Church through the Great Inquisitor. The Great Inquisitor was a major part of the Catholic Church; however after he was killed he was given a grand funeral while a fellow Jew was shown no respect. This is mocking and looking down on the ideals of the Church, and also presents the Great Inquisitor as superior character without respect to the little people. Martin is also another example because he was a Socinian who is a person that went against the Church and was persecuted. This again is mocking the Church. Next, Voltaire criticizes the monasticism as an institution harmful to the individual and injurious to society. Voltaire looks down upon the morals of many religious being because they do not follow what they are taught and what they teach. For example, a monk was responsible for seducing Paquette, Pangloss’s friend. This is a horrible thing for a monk to do because they are committed to celibacy. The reader realizes the horrors and stupidity of war after reading chapter twenty-three. An admiral is killed for being too far from his enemy. His death was also a warning to others and encouragement for other to work harder and accurately. The lack of an appropriate reason shows how stupid the war is when men are dying for no good reason. Continuing, the city of Paris is shown with follies and vices in chapter twenty-one. When Candide reaches France, he learns about the atrocities of the city through his companion Martin who said that he was robbed and punished in the city. Even more, the city seems to be a wasteful place where everyone spends their time with entertainment and love; instead of concentrating on other aspects of life. Rich and noble people are greatly satirized by Voltaire due to their fatuous pride. One example of this would be with the Baroness’s son. He feels that he is too superior to allow Candide to marry his noble sister. Furthermore, the kings that Candide had supper with were also satirized. They all had fallen from their noble thrones; however, they wish to do nothing else with their lives except to be called “Your Highnesses.” Finally, he unreal Utopias envisioned by naïve and impractical idealists is a major factor when Candide visits Elderado. There everyone is in an almost too perfect world that it would be impossible to be true. Voltaire mocks many types of societies and also mocks this one; because due to its lack of religion and law enforcement; no such society could exist. All of these aspects are is some way or another satirized in the story by Voltaire to further convey his view to the readers.