Martin

Candide first meets the old, depressed scholar in Buenos Aires, to accompany him on his journey from France, especially because Martin is very misfortunate and pessimistic. Martin empersonates the exact opposite standpoint of philosophy of Pangloss and Candide. He believes that the whole world is evil, that any single little part of good is fleeting and that everything that appears to be happy is undoubtedly not. Martin also reveals that he is a Manichaeist. Martin thinks that God has abandoned the world and its people, and they now create evil and suffering. He has great contempt for the optimistic point of view that evil is only an illusion.

Martin the scholar is much less absorbed in philosophy than Candide and Pangloss, maybe because of the hopelessness dictated by the view he has on this world. He comments in response to Candide’s probes and always philosophize in the midst of a crisis. He always checks Candide’s philosophical daydreaming and compares it to the reality. Although Martin’s philosophy is as extreme as the one Pangloss believed in, his worldview has a much stronger basis in the context of Voltaire's book. Given all the awful things that happen in the book, Martin’s argumenst are a lot stronger than the ones of Candide.

George Clooney - Our Martin