Metamorphosis is about a man name Gregor who takes care of his families finances. His parents are capable of working but instead choose not to while Gregor works to pay off their debts. One day Gregor wakes up as a cockroach and no longer can work. His family alienates him and confines him to his room. In the end Gregor dies and his parents begin to work again. This story resembles human nature. When someone continually gives you something, most people do not want to change that. Gregor’s family took advantage of him. Because he kept working they had no motivation to find a job for themselves. Eventually we see there capability of working after Gregor dies.

Candide is an unlikely story about an innocent man who has many terrible things happen to him through out his lifetime. In the story Pangloss uses his philosophy to teach Candide the ways of the world and why things happen to people. His philosophy is that everything happens for a reason and that it is for the best.  At one point he even says that the “bay of Lisbon had been formed expressly for the Anabaptist to drown.” He also believed that syphilis was the best for the world because Christopher Columbus brought is back with him from America and without him they would not be able to enjoy chocolate.

Voltaire mocks the philosophy that “everything that happens is for the best.”  He believes this is ridiculous and absurd and wants people to realize that.  Is he effective in doing this? Do you think Pangloss’s theory is rational? I think Voltaire delivers a successful satire.  The events that happen through out the story are so ludicrous and unbelievable. I think he proves that Pangloss philosophy is completely wrong and that everything that happens can’t possibly be for the best.