Voltaire attacked the church, the state, philosophy and the governing class. He spent most of his
             life dodging punishment for his satirical tongue. Voltaire wrote against religious persecution,
             criticized the powerful individuals and condemned their institutions. Voltaire uses mockery in
             his book Candide to express his bitterness towards nobility, philosophy, the church, and
             Throughout the book we come across a lot of characters. One in which is a baron
             named Thunder-ten-tronckn. An awful name to begin with, but this is Voltaire's way of
             mocking pretensions nobility. He is not an especially rich baron, but a baron non the less, who
             wastes most of his time living off the labor of others. The only justification for his position as
             baron, is merely through birth. He is not noble in any sense of the words meaning. But it is the
             aristocratic belief that greatness stays within the family. The baron's sister, for example,
             wouldn't marry Candide's father because he did not have enough quarterings on his coat of
             arms. Voltaire is trying to imply that there is no difference between the common people and the
             nobles. Ranking does not make you a better person.
             Candide spends his childhood in a castle with a gentleman named Pangloss.
             Pangloss is a philosopher that believes this is the best of all possible worlds and that everything
             is for the best. The name of his school is called metaphysico-theologo-cosmolonigology.
             Voltaire criticizes this school because if the world is so great and everything is for the best, why
             then are people suffering. The other big joke towards Pangloss' philosophical views is that
             Pangloss lives in a confined castle. He tries to talk about the world around him, but knows little
             When Candide leaves the castles he is thrown into the army. Candide goes from
             believe Pangloss's philosophy to seeing the world full of evil. T
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