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HomeLiterature EssaysCandideDon't Be a (Red) Sheep
Don't Be a (Red) Sheep Anonymous College
Throughout Voltaire's Candide the reader was introduced to a wide variety of unique characters, each seemingly with their own philosophies and beliefs on how life should be viewed. Voltaire seems to stress through the development of the protagonist, Candide, just how influential the people we surround ourselves with are when it comes to shaping our own beliefs. Sometimes we completely agree with someone's personal philosophy, while on the other hand detesting others we don't agree with. I strongly believe that when Candide (Voltaire) states that "we must cultivate our garden" (Voltaire.96), he's implying that we as individuals should think more for ourselves rather than solely base our beliefs on the thoughts of others.
Candide is perhaps the biggest culprit of being more of a follower than a leader in the sense of forming original thoughts on how the world (or even the universe) works. Granted, the privileged boy did grow up with Pangloss as a personal teacher and friend, he still desperately clung to the belief that "things cannot be otherwise, for, everything being made for an end, everything is necessarily for the best end" (2). Intrigued by the idea that he lives in a world where everything happens for a reason, the...
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Voltaire's Candide: Historically- and Socially-Founded Characters
An Examination of Human Nature in Candide
Philosophical Context of Voltaire's Candide
The Sex of All Possible Worlds: Analyzing 'Candide' Through the Feminist Lens
Love in Hamlet, Popol Vuh, and Candide
Cultural and Historical Influences Found in Six Characters in Search of an Author, A Thousand Splendid Suns, and Candide
Critical Thinking (or Lack Thereof): The Nature of Thinking for Oneself in Voltaire's Candide
Enlightened Absolutism and the Value of Voltaire's "Tending One's Own Garden" Metaphor in Candide
Ignorance: Far from Bliss
Don't Be a (Red) Sheep
Function of the Narrative Form in Voltaire's Candide
The Wider the Scope, the Greater the Success
Comparison between the Optimistic Philosophy of Pangloss and the Pessimism of Martin
Tragedy and Romance in Oroonoko and Candide
The Irony in Optimism
Voltaire's Candide as an Early Critique of Globalization