Voltaire's satire Candide provides understanding of what establishes the notion of happiness in a person's life and what the existence of despair means to an individual. Each character goes through an experience in the book where things turn out good for them, but then something turns out awful for them. This book shows what despair and happiness really means through the characters experiences.
Candide starts off in the beginning of the book with not much knowledge except for the knowledge Pangloss gave him. Pangloss, the castle's tutor, was an optimistic who believed this world is the "best of all possible worlds." Candide throughout the book questioned this belief but remained with it because of certain events. Candide love Cunegonde, the baron's daughter, but she brought him much sorrow and misery. No matter what horrible things happened to Candide he always somehow got lucky or had some good fortune. Even when Candide thought the woman he loved was dead, he finds out she is still alive. This seemed to be the pattern in this book for Candide, one terrible thing after another would happen to him but he would always have someone who would help him or he would have some good outcome that would keep him alive and in high spirits. .
Candide had much anguish throughout the book from the beginning to the end, but always managed to have some good fortune and be happy. At the beginning of the book Candide was caught kissing Cunegonde and was banished by the baron. Two men from the next town helped him and gave him food and money, but made him join the Bulgar Army, where he was abused and had much hardship. He was very down on his luck and had much hopelessness during this. To makes things worse he was captured and martialed as a deserter. He was forced to run the gauntlet two times and surprising survives. He then had to serve in a war between the Bulgars and the Abares but deserted at the first opportunity.
