The disillusionment of Candide mirrors that of many Europeans in Voltaire's era.

As Pangloss concludes at the novel's conclusion, “man is not born to be idle.” Even so, Candide suggests that the struggle of human life-an endless cycle of optimism and disillusionment-might in fact be preferable to a static faith in the “best of all possible worlds. By the end, Candide comes to know that good is not always rewarded with good, that the New World is as filled with war and religious confusion as the Old, and that the best of intentions are no protection against the worst of outcomes. As he sees more of life and the world, he becomes less and less convinced that suffering and evil exist as part of a larger divine harmony. Candide begins the novel as a faithful student of Pangloss, but painful experience prompts him to reconsider his views. Candide pits the optimistic doctrine of Pangloss-that we live in the “best of all possible worlds”-against the long and senseless series of misfortunes endured by Candide and the other characters.

Candide the optimist