Human Corruption in CandideAccording to Voltaire, man's goal is his own happiness. This objective is too often a mirage. (Gay 26) Man is the prey of his own passion, the victim of his own stupidity. Man is the toy of destiny. (Gay 26) The human condition is filled with ills that no amount of rationality can cure. (Gay 27) This human condition results in human corruption. Voltaire alludes to this corruption through Candide. Candide had an impact on society as Voltaire knew it. English admirals who lose battles are no longer shot as lessons in military perseverance. (Weitz 11) However, in our time, the human scourges of war, famine, rape, greed, persecution, intolerance, superstition, intolerance and hypocrisy which constitute this element of human corruption addressed in Candide. Candide still serves as an effective whip to once again whip the perpetrators of this suffering. (Weitz 12) The theme of human misery is Voltaire's main achievement in integrating philosophy and literature in Candide. (Weitz 12) “Do you think,” Candide asks Martin as they approach the coast of France, “that men have always massacred each other, as they do today, that they have always been false, unfaithful , ungrateful, thieves, weak, fickle, petty, envious, covetous, drunken, miserly, ambitious, bloody, slanderous, profligate, fanatical, hypocritical and stupid? Martin responds with a follow-up question: “Do you think hawks always ate pigeons when they could find them? » “Of course yes” replies Candide. Martin replies, "Well, if hawks have always had the same character, why should you suppose that men have changed theirs?" ". While examination of the novel's characters certainly supports much of this assessment of Martin, one need only think of the snobbery The Baron, the rascally Dutch captain, Vanderbendur, the Brazilian governor, the beastly bat-avian sailor, the Jesuits hypocrites, the miserly Jews and the thief abbot of Périgord..