In Candide, what are the major issues addressed by the text?

Candide, of course, is a philosophical novel. While it can be enjoyed on several different levels--Voltaire's wit has actually translated quite well across the centuries--Voltaire is using the story of Candide to make a serious philosophical point.

The pretentious professor Pangloss assures Candide that "all is for the best in this, the best of all possible worlds." Pangloss, like many of Voltaire's contemporaries, suggested that whatever happened in the world was God's will and was thus to be cheerfully accepted. By subjecting Candide to one horrific incident after another, Voltaire clearly suggests that this is not true. The point is a serious one in that Voltaire was arguing for human agency in making the world a better, or a worse, place.

Voltaire also critiques many contemporary institutions. He mocks dogmatic religion in his treatment of the Inquisition in Portugal. He points to the absurdity of war. In fact, a key message in Candide is that it is pointless to spend too much time bickering over abstract philosophical and religious propositions at all. As Candide says in the end when Pangloss insists on explaining everything that has happened to them through the prism of his philosophy: "All that is very well, but let us cultivate our garden.” Voltaire was a hard-headed pragmatist, and Candide was a splendid vehicle for his philosophy.