In the category of anti-religious satire may be included what Voltaire had to say about free will. Basic to the Christian doctrine, certainly to Roman Catholicism, is the proposition that man, endowed with reason, can and must make his choice between good and evil. The well-meaning Candide found that, although he knew war to be evil, he had no choice as regards becoming a soldier or not. The best that he could do was to hide when the hostilities began.
To be sure that he does not neglect his major thesis — the attack upon optimistic philosophy — Voltaire inserts the introduction and description of the pitiable beggar who made his appearance at the end of Chapter III.
