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The absolutist Optimism of Dr. Pangloss is frequently revealed to be irrational and unfounded in reality. Candide offers one example after another of pain, loss, misfortune, and suffering meant to underscore the flaws in the philosophy of Optimism.
Candide’s retreat to the garden symbolizes an abandonment of optimistic idealism for what is in a way its own kind of suffering: hard labor in the garden.