In Voltaire's Candide, the title character travels from continent to continent in search of love and the meaning of life. Throughout his travels, his optimism, learned from his ever-present guardian, Pangloss, is slowly crumbled. Candide experiences corruption and deception, especially in the church. Above all, Candido realizes that one must cultivate one's life and leave nothing to chance. Through these lessons, Candide develops from an innocent student to a wise young man. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Born in Westphalia, Candide is the illegitimate son of Baron Thunder-ten-tronckh's sister. For this reason he was educated by the first Westphalian philosopher: Pangloss. Pangloss' main philosophy is optimism. Whenever Pangloss is presented with a bad experience from another character, he simply says it's for the best. At one point, for example, he says, "[Syphilis] is indispensable in this best of all possible worlds... because if Columbus, when he visited the West Indies, had not contracted this disease... we would have neither chocolate nor cochineal " (30). With similar optimism Candide continues his journey. However, as his character develops, he realizes that this is not how the world works. While optimism is sufficient as an explanation of the world to a young and naive Candide, it becomes less and less convincing as the story progresses. Candido was born into an ideal world where he is respected, educated and provided for. Yet when he leaves, he is subject to a devastating natural disaster, public humiliation, and the loss of the love of his life, among other hardships. In chapter 26, for example, Candide dines with six dethroned kings. As Candide listens to the sad accounts of the former rulers, he is forced to question whether, indeed, all things are for the best. The final blow to Candide's optimism comes at the end of the novel, when Pangloss and Candide visit the Dervish, supposedly the wisest man in all of Turkey. Pangloss tells the Dervish that "I was looking forward to a little discussion with you about cause and effect, the best of all possible worlds, the origin of evil, the nature of the soul, and pre-established harmony" (142). For this reason, the Dervish slams the door in their faces. The fact that the wisest of men does not take Pangloss' philosophy into account forces Candide to move away from optimism completely. this action symbolizes Candide's abandonment of optimism. The second lesson Candide learns is that organized religion is vain and corrupt. Voltaire represents church figures as selfish and organized religion as a farce. For example, Voltaire describes the origin of Pangloss's sexually transmitted disease: "Paquette received this gift from a learned Franciscan..." (30). Candide learns that Pangloss contracted the disease from a monk, who is supposed to be celibate. Candide is thus exposed to the deception of the Church. In addition to the non-celibate monk, Candide encounters many other figures who denigrate the church and organized religion in general. One of these characters is the Grand Inquisitor. He is introduced when he condemns Candide and Pangloss to an auto-da-fé, in which Candide is tortured and Pangloss presumably hanged. Later, Candide knows him as Cunegonde's forced lover, who blackmails her Jewish owner into sharing her. When the Inquisitor enters and sees the dead Jew, Candide quickly stabs him. As the Grand Inquisitor, a very high-level church official, the character engages in blackmail, sexual promiscuity, and heartlessness. Another.