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One of the most famous satires in literary history is Candide by Voltaire. It both explores and mocks the ideals held so true by the Enlightenment philosophers, and the policies of the period’s government. Voltaire is skeptical of the likelihood of the perfect, enlightened world, where everyone is peaceful and treats each other equally, actually ever existing. This is based purely on previous actions of colonizers and missionaries in the Americas. Voltaire’s mocking of the Enlightenment thinkers in such a straightforward manner was considered inflammatory because of the style in which he did it. One of the reasons behind his graphic descriptions is that he keenly felt the suffering that others endured in the quest for either the true religion, or in “bettering” what was considered by colonizers a “primitive” society. Voltaire was not writing for pure shock value, he was writing to express his frustration with the socially powerful people of the time and their behavior towards colonization, religion, and war. Voltaire starts his story with a comment on the ridiculousness of the rules about aristocratic marriage. When Voltaire starts the story Candide is the illegitimate nephew of a Baron, who wants to marry his cou