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Essay on The Ingenu

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The Ingenu Le Connaissance Nouveau de L'Ingenu

Francios-Marie Arouet's, assuming the pen-name of Voltaire, L'Ingenu is a satirical story that begins in 1689 when a ship of English merchants are coming to France to trade. This is when the Ingenu is first introduced. The French are most intrigued by his appearance. Because of a picture believed to be the brother and sister-in-law of the Abbe de Kerkabon and Mademoiselle de Kerkabon, the Kerkabons felt that they saw a resemblance and take him in as their nephew.
This is only the beginning. With no set beliefs, the Huron comes to live with these people of France and is taught to live as they do. Under appearingly unfortunate circumstances, he becomes imprisoned and able to …show more content…

Taken aback, the Child of Nature lets them know "that in England they let people live as they pleased"
(Voltaire, 194). Upon preparing to depart, he leaves the Prior and Mademoiselle with his most valued possession, a little trinket that "consisted of two rather poorly drawn little portraits tied together with an extremely greasy strap
(Voltaire, 195)". The Kerkabons think he is their nephew because the people in the portraits looked like the brother and sister-in-law of the Abbe de Kerkabon and Mademoiselle de Kerkabon. Thus after this assumption, the Kerkabons teach him their way of living.

The Child of Nature comes to be taught by the French, whom almost successfully rub their religion off on him. He is rather shy still, but questions why they don't live up to what the Bible says. He is ready to be castrated, because everyone in the Bible is, but they tell him that it is no longer done. When the day finally comes for him to be baptized, he is nowhere to be found. When they were about to give up looking for him, they find him standing naked in a cold river waiting to be baptized. He becomes frustrated with them because of this hypocrisy. "You're not going to pull the wool over my eyes this time the way you did the last. I've gone into things a lot since then, and I am quite certain that there is no other way of being

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