In Voltaire’s Candide, two of the major themes that emerge are fate and free will. Fate is a belief that one’s future is already predetermined and that he or she has no control over it. No matter what one does, the same thing is going to happen because it was destined to happen. It’s also the notion that everything happens for a reason and nothing happens “just because.” The concept of free will states that a person can do only things that he or she has decided, not because they were “supposed to happen.” People who believe in free will know that they have control over events that happen in their lives and don’t entertain the notion that things happen for a specific reason.
In this story, the main character, Candide, sways back and forth between believing in free will and believing in fate. In the beginning, he is made by Pangloss to believe in fate, that everything that happens does so for a reason since this is what Pangloss believed in. He would say that it is proven that things can never be otherwise, as everything has been made for a purpose and definitely for the best purpose. (Voltaire, 5).Pangloss, who had a background as an English philosopher, was Candide’s tutor and guided him through various situations. He did his best to make Candide believe that all things were supposed to happen. Otherwise, they would not have happened. He had a staunch belief that the best of all possible worlds was the one they lived in and there could be nothing better, even after going through grim situations that would make anyone think differently. “Those who have said that all is well have spoken nonsense; they should have said that all is at its best.”(Voltaire, 5).He is implying that despite all evils there may be in the world, that is the way it is supposed to be, and there can’t be anything better.
Candide began by first believing Pangloss when he told him that everything that happened was always meant to happen. He th...