Austin Heath
Mr. Arena
English II period 4
4 December 2012

Suffering, Suffering, and More Suffering

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering" (Brainyquote). This quote signifies that there is really no escape to suffering in our society. I feel this is a very true statement. Pain is the first stop on the road to victory. Suffering is the way of life and we have to snap into reality and realize what the real word is like. Through Candide, Voltaire shows philosophical pessimism towards religion, the government, and humanity. Much corruption was shown through religion. There were few good examples as to how corruption was shown through religion, such as, the time the Grand Inquisitor wanted to buy Cunegonde from Don Issachar. Don refused and was threatened by the Grand Inquisitor with auto-de-fe (Voltaire 42). Girls back then were treated with no respect. It’s a good thing they now have the same rights then men do. The church in certainly not a place where corruption should be displayed. It was very hard to rely on a government that was also corrupt. One example of how the government was corrupt was when the government passed the auto-de-fe. The government began to allow " auto-de-fe" which was the death penalty. The government enforced this on many of their citizens (Voltaire). The death penalty should not be the punishment of any crime. This punishment should never had been an option. Another way the government displayed corruption was when they killed one of their own soldiers. The decided to kill a soldier for not having enough kills to his name. They thought this would show all the other men that they have to kill others in order to stay alive ( Voltaire 110). It is not fair someone was killed because they didn’t kill enough people. This man was killed for no apparent reason. Suffering and corruption is also displayed through