True satire is, by its very nature, emotionally unsatisfying, because the theme of satire is that there are no solutions to the low and fallen condition of human nature. Satire gives you no one to root for; every genius is a fool, every fool is a knave, and there is no transcendence to be had. The greatest satire ever written, Candide: Or Optimism , is a classic "hero’s journey," in which the idea of heroism itself is Voltaire’s punching bag. Candide murders people, finds his great love again