Candide's Growth as a Character

Throughout the story of Candide, by Voltaire, Candide seems to never really evolve. Through out a vast majority of the book, he feebly agrees with his former teacher's philosophical teachings. He is put through so many awful things, yet he remains optimistic. He continues to believe that everything will come out in the end. It is comical how Candide fails to evolve throughout the story. What is odd however, is that at the time where most things in his life seem to fall in place, he believes in the optimistic theory the least. After his teacher has somehow arisen from the dead he says "Now that you have been hanged, dissected, beaten to a pulp, and sentenced to the galleys, do you still think everything is the best in this world? (70)." This shows that doubt has finally crept into Candide's mind. He has never before shown a true likelihood to not believe in the fact that everything will turn out for the best. While Candide's growth takes a very long time with a long and drawn out process, he does finally make a transformation. That is what it must be called, because he seemingly randomly decides that he does not agree with Pangloss any more, and that he has now matured into his own man.