It has been said that Candide is a "cruel and destructive book as well as a funny one." Discuss the ways Candide's and Dr. Pangloss's optimism is tested throughout the novel. Can anyone help here?
Optimism
"Pangloss's first lesson to Candide is that "there cannot possibly be an effect without a cause" and that "everything is made to serve an end." This encapsulates the doctrine of optimistic determinism. If an omniscient, omnipotent God made the world according to his design, then the presence of evil would imply a malice toward his own creatures. Believers in the Christian faith responded to this theological problem by applying a rational understanding to the phenomenon of evil, using an analysis of cause and effect to justify every particular instance of evil in terms of the eventual, broader good to emerge from it. "Private misfortunes make for public welfare," Pangloss concludes."
