Clever Satire in CandideIn the story Candide, Voltaire uses the experiences of the character Candide and the dialogue between the characters to challenge other philosophers' theory that "Everything is for the best in this better than all possible worlds" (Voltaire). Voltaire believed that the society he lived in had many flaws, flaws that are illustrated throughout the story. Voltaire uses satire to target the military, religious, and corporate emphasis on physical beauty, to illustrate that we do not live in the best of all possible worlds. One institution that Voltaire takes aim at in Candide is the military institution. . Voltaire attacks the military using the dialogue between Candide and Martin as they talk during their passage along the coast of England. During their journey they witness the execution of an admiral of the English army. Martin explains to Candide that this admiral was executed for not killing enough people in a battle with a rival French admiral. With this statement, Voltaire illustrates that the army has lost its sense of duty, becoming a machine of brutality instead of an institution to protect the lives of citizens. The way the execution is done further illustrates the flaws of this particular company. Instead of secretly executing the admiral, the military made the admiral's execution a public ceremony. With this chapter of Candide, Voltaire creates a satirical and brutal vision of not only the military, but also the English citizens who come to watch. In most societies, citizens are appalled by such behavior, but in this case, citizens accept these actions and even condone the murder. All these points are illustrated... in the center of the paper... showing what he considers to be the best of all possible worlds. In the story of Candide's journey to the land of El Dorado, Voltaire creates his vision of a perfect society, where people are kind to each other, money and jewels have no real value to exploit, and where the government is honest. This section of Candide is different from all the others, it is essentially the only positive section of Candide's travels. After analyzing the work, it appears that the story was not written as a work of fiction, but rather as a commentary on the state of society throughout Europe. Works cited and consulted: Frautschi, RL Barron's Simplified Approach to Voltaire: Candide. New York: Barron's Educational Series, Inc., 1968.Lowers, James K, ed. "Cliff Notes on Voltaire's Candide". Lincoln: Cliff Notes, Inc. 1995. Voltaire. White. New York: Viking Publishers, 1998.