Social Commentary In Voltaire's Candide
There are several different ways for an author to successfully create social commentary in their novels; the diction, the imagery, the tone, the characters, and the motif are only a few. The novel Candide, written by Voltaire, is an excellent example in which one exhibits social commentary in a novel. Voltaire’s Candide creates social commentary through his characters, his characters’ discussions, and the many obstacles in which the characters have to face.
“The women are never at a loss, God provides for them, let us run” (54). Candide shows social commentary in his novel through his characters. Out of all of the characters, the ones who help establish social commentary the most, are Miss Cunégonde and the Old Woman. Both of the women’s families were killed right in front of them, and the only reason that they were not killed themselves is because they were both beautiful, young women who had caught the eyes of a man. “But I have met with such terrible treatment in this that I have almost lost all hope of a better” (40). Cunégonde and the Old Women were both sexually assaulted several times by many different men. They were subjected to slavery and servantry; cooking, cleaning and
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Candide is written in a way so that it does not need a lot of imagery and diction, for that would take away from what Voltaire wants. The novel is written so that a reader is not distracted by a tremendous amount of imagery and diction, because the story, and the meaning of the story, are the most important things for a reader to understand. When a reader is not distracted and can focus on the story being told, one can find what is woven in between the words, one of those things in Candide being the social commentary. Voltaire’s Candide creates social commentary through his characters, his characters’ discussions, and the many obstacles in which the characters have to
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