In this chapter, Voltaire continued his savage satirical attack upon philosophic optimism, denying that public disasters and individual tribulations were no more than part of a cosmic plan from which good ultimately emerged. Although Candide tried desperately to cling to the faith Doctor Pangloss had taught him, he found the effort to be increasingly difficult. After all, he had been robbed by the rascally captain and then victimized by the judge who represented law and order in the land. But the fact that Candide sought legal redress pointed to the conclusion that Voltaire did not seek to excuse the world's evils and that he believed man should fight to prevent it.
The plight of the black man underscores cruelty at the personal level once more. And the fact that the slave had been converted to Christianity, his master's faith, provided another example of Voltairian irony — Christianity, the religion that teaches love of one's fellow man and stresses the idea that we are all God's children. Finally, with the introduction of the long-suffering scholar, who will prove to be a most interesting character, Voltaire again struck out at intolerance and implied that there was still no place for free thought in this troubled world.
