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Persuasive Essay On Candide

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Voltaire While reading Candide, Voltaire mocks a certain philosophy. This Philosophy is that “all things are for the best”. Which to me means that everything that happens, happens for the best nothing is left up to chance. I found this quote that helps support my opinion, “Consequently, those who say everything is well are uttering stupidities; they should say everything is for the best.”(Chapter 1, pg. 425). Voltaire criticizes a lot of things during the Candide, but one certain one stuck out in my mind. It was his criticism of the church, to me it’s like he doesn’t want to believe that God is good, he wants to believe that earth has been traded to the devil and that we are all going to Hell. I do not agree with this because I know that God is good and we aren’t all going …show more content…

I found this quote that I think supports what I’m saying: “…but I assure you, as I survey this globe or globule, I think that God has abandoned it to some evil spirit---all of it except Eldorado.” (Chapter 20 pg. 458). When I read Voltaire and I read about all the criticisms. I start to notice how not all of them make sense. The anonymous review that I read was on the nose when it said: “Voltaire seems indeed to have understood the opinion, which he has endeavored to ridicule, and the arguments by which it is supported in a very imperfect and confusing manner?” The key phrase in that was confusing manner. Voltaire was very confusing not only in his criticism but also in his writing of Candide. To me, it seemed that he just skipped around and didn’t really have a flowing storyline. But with his criticism the anonymous review said it best when it said “It is now certain either that I shall die tonight, or I shall not; if that I shall, I shall die tho’ I do not drink the poison: if that I shall not, I shall live tho’ I do drink it”. I read that and was immediately confused. And I continue to stay that way while reading

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