Candide: Problems With Everyday Surroundings What compels a man to think of today’s society with open eyes, and actually allow him to visualize change? Voltaire achieved this as he wrote Candide. In this novel Voltaire mocks the problems of his everyday surroundings by pointing them out in a way that is both humorous and to the point. He uses a main character (Candide) that represents the everyday person during that time; he also uses a set of characters that represent everyday people and how their actions can influence the everyday man in either a positive or negative