Ourika

Ourika is the protagonist of Ourika by Claire de Duras, and this novel explores her sorrow after discovering racism and prejudice in the Parisian society in which she was raised. In the Introduction to Ourika, a young Parisian doctor tends a young, sick black nun in the convent at Faubourg Saint Jacques, who suffers from a prolonged melancholia. Since the doctor insists that she must cure the past to save the nun's life, the nun shares the sad story of her life after becoming better acquainted with the doctor. Chevalier rescued Ourika from a slaver in Senegal when she was two years old and gave her to his aunt, Mme. de B, when he returned to France. Mme. de B raised Ourika like a daughter, providing her with what was considered a girl's perfect education, and Ourika's only friend was Mme. de B's grandson, Charles, who was about...