Voltaires Satire on Optimism - Book Report/Review Example

Pangloss’s optimism can be defended on the ground that the best possible world does not necessarily mean that there is no evil in this world like ‘the Garden’ that Voltaire takes for the embodiment of Leibniz’s optimistic world. In some episodes, especially in that of the happy couple, he attempts to focus on the point that the statement “everything is for the best in the best of all possible worlds” is devoid of reality (Voltaire 7). In the novella, he portrays some characters that directly symbolically opposed the character of Pangloss who himself signifies the philosophy of Leibniz.

After experiencing the horrors such as maladies, floggings, robberies, natural disasters, unjust executions, rapes, betrayals, etc of the real world, Pangloss is forced to quit his optimism and declares that he doesn’t “believe a word of” (Voltaire 121) that he previously holds for his optimistic conclusions. But the fact whether the world is full of pessimism –as Voltaire attempts to uphold through the portrayal of the real world- may engender an array of controversies.

Voltaire’s argument appears to be one-eyed. It is barred from viewing the positive sides of the world or simply does not want to view them. Voltaire’s nihilistic view is insufficient within itself, as Pangloss’s optimism is. In the same, the happy moment of the couple that Martin wagers on the matter that they are not happy may be the happiest in their unhappy life. But Voltaire tends to ignore this possibility.