Candide Essay Outline

Thesis: Martin's pessimism, an enlightened approach to life, is better because it is realistic and it puts life into perspective for Candide, while Pangloss's optimistic view was quixotic and simply not possible, which even Pangloss realizes by the end of the novel.

Outline: 

1. Pessimistic Enlightenment ideas and optimistic Pre-Enlightenment ideas
1. Leibniz was a German philosopher who believed in the optimistic Pre-Enlightenment idea that because God created the world and God is perfect, anything that happens in the world is the best thing that could possibly happen. 
1. Pangloss represents Leibniz's views. 
2. Voltaire, the author of Candide, argues against this idea in Candide by using satire to show his pessimistic Enlightenment beliefs.
1. Martin represents Voltaire's views. 
2. Pangloss has an optimistic belief, which is quixotic and not possible.
1. He teaches Candide that nothing can be bad in the world because God created it and God is perfect. 
2. Candide suffers many awful things. 
1. In chapter 2 Candide is whipped brutally by the Bulgars.
1. He still believes in Pangloss's optimism though.  
2. In chapter 19 Candide meets a slave who is missing a leg and a hand. 
1. It is at this point that Candide renounces Pangloss's optimism because he sees how unequal and cruel the world really is.
3.  Martin has a realistic approach to life.
1. Martin acknowledges that there are bad things in the world.
1. He believes that the world is imperfect. 
2. He has a pessimistic and realistic view of life. 
2. He helps to change Candide's view of the world. 
1. In Chapter 20 the ship of the captain who took Candide's money sinks and the captain and crew drown
1. Candide is happy about this and says that there is some good in the world.
2. Martin argues saying, "but did the passengers aboard his ship have to perish too?"
2. In Chapter 24 Candide starts to agree with Martin after losing money to a valet and not being able to find Cacambo or Cunegonde. 
4. Conclusion
1. Pangloss had an optimistic and unrealistic view of the world. 
2. Martin's view of the world was more realistic and it showed the world for how it truly is. 
3. Candide learns that Pangloss's belief  was wrong and even Pangloss does too.