Candide satirizes the ideology of philosophical optimism by using exaggeration, by making everything ridicule and absurd. Also, the limitations of the characters satirizes this idea.
First of all, when this idea is proposed - when Pangloss is presented in the book-, the proof for such a though is absurd. (chapter 1)- there is no effect without cause, thats why noses were made to the use of spectacles, therefore, we use spectacle, etc. Therefore, the optimism is stirized, by the reasoning of Pangloss.
Also, exaggeration is used throughout the book. Pangloss and Candide pass through horrible catastrohpes in this book, such as a disease, rape, brutallity, earthquacke, etc. And, eveytime they look at these "scenarios" they think about it possitivly, and try to find a cause for such an effect. ( Good example, when Pangloss has syphilis, his body is distroyed and he is missing an ear and nose, he says that such a disease is " it is an indispensable feature of the best of all possible worlds, a necessary ingredient: for if Columbus, on an island off the Americas, had not contracted this disease- which poisons the source of all procreation, and often even prevents procreation, contrary though this be to nature’s great plan- we would have neither chocolate nor cochineal(…)” (Voltaire, 11)
Also, you could talk about Martin. How the author uses comparaison in between these two; pessimism always get the characters out of trouble, and optimism gets them in trouble...
If you need more ideas, don't hesitate to write back (:
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