If I coudn't laugh I would probably just cry

I really appreciate Voltaire's story of Candide. It is a satisfying read on many levels, which I fins incredibly engaging. He is able to incorporate politics, philosophy, religion-and yes- humour. He approaches them in such a way that we are forced to look at these issues with new eyes. We suddenly see a satirical version of ideals and values caricatured in front of our eyes. You are forced to look at something from a new perspective when it is presented to you in a new format. Voltaire does this excellently by presenting all of his ideas in a story format where things like Anabaptist and the philosophy movement are given faces, names, and a personality. When something is exaggerated or put into a humorous light I believe it forces you to look at it more critically simply because you can no longer ignore the ugly, ridiculous, or scary aspects of a way of living or thinking. I think that this is perhaps why it is necessary for satire to incorporate so much humour when it critically analyzes parts f our culture. It might be that without the humour we would be to uncomfortable to look at the images that are being fed to us of ourselves and our ridiculous world. When presented with a brutally honest picture of reality it is foten easier to laugh rather than cry.