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Classic slave narratives essay
Reflection on a slave narrative
Summary the interesting narrative of olaudah equiano
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In Equiano 's personal slave narrative, The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, Equiano uses distinguishing first person pronouns, thought provoking rhetorical questions, and eye-opening, harsh diction to flip the idea that the African people act backwards and barbaric. Equiano does so by demonstrating his personal exceptionalism through his literacy to show that truly the white people remain backwards and barbaric because of their hypocrisy. The contradiction of the perceptions of white and African people that Equiano demonstrates in his slave narrative shows that the savagery of African people is a misconception. The misconception of the perceptions of the African people makes the reader fully grasp the need to abolish …show more content…
In the eighteenth century, the slave narrative started to emerge. During this literary period, major emphasis was placed on the values of the Enlightenment; one of these values in particular being the power of the individual. Equiano used the first person pronouns to give himself more power and more authority that way his chronicle was taken seriously. Also during this literary period, another valued Enlightenment principle is that of first person experience. By using the first person pronouns, Equiano demonstrates the events in his narrative directly through first person experience. The events that Equiano discusses relates as well back to the literary period of the book. The anecdote talks about exploration and the discovery of the new areas that Equiano sails to, which displays the idea of the exploration novel of the time …show more content…
Equiano characterizes white people in this way through his exceptionalism and the knowledge he obtains, which allows him to recognize the true, hypocritical nature of the white person. Since Equiano is able to reach this noteworthy distinction, he shows that other African people could also reach his potential if allowed, displaying to the audience a new perception of African people. By overturning the common perception of white people at the time, Equiano forces the reader to question the conventions of enslavement so that the public understands the need to abolish captivity and other
There are few things as brutal as the history of the institution of slavery. In his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, the aforementioned Olaudah Equiano describes the experience of his entrance into slavery.
Olaudah Equiano was not an American born slave. He was born and raised well into his childhood in Africa with his family. His slave narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustav Vassa, the African, published in New York in 1791 however, had a lasting impact on America as it described the inhumane treatment of Africans being sold into slavery (Baym 1: 687). Equiano’s initial concept of freedom stemmed from his childhood of which he speaks very fondly, describing his homeland as a “nation of dancers, musicians and poets,” a...
The Olaundah Equiano narrative is a view of servitude from a former captive himself. He begins his story in Africa from the land of Esska, his native homeland. He describes his tribe and all the many traditions they practiced as a way of living. Equiano was not originally born into servitude but a free male, son of a chief. Equiano’s life in Africa was common among the many members of his tribe. He was strongly attached to his mother and clenched to her as much as possible. His father obtained many slaves himself, but treated them like an equal part of the family. Equiano lived a common life in African society, until one day his destiny took an unexpected turn for the worst and life would never be the same.
Equiano was the youngest of his brothers who enjoyed playing outside throwing javelins enjoying the normal life of a small child. At the beginning of the day, the elders would leave their children at home while they went out into the fields to work. While they were gone, some of the children would get together to play but always took precautions of potential kidnappers. Even with all these precautions, people were still seized from their homes and taken away. Equiano was home one day with his little sister tending to the everyday household needs when out of nowhere they were captured by a couple men who had gotten over the walls. They had no time to resist or scream for help before they found themselves bound, gagged, and being taken away. Equiano had no idea where these people were taking him and they didn’t stop once until nightfall where they stayed until dawn. He tells us about how they traveled for many days and nights not having any clue where they were going or when they would get there. Slaves traveled by land and by sea, but Equiano’s journey was by sea. He tells us how he was carried aboard and immediately chained to other African Americans that were already on the ship. Once the ship halted on land, Equiano along with many other slaves were sent to the merchant’s yard where they would be herded together and bought by the
The fight for racial equality is one of the most prominent issues Americans have faced throughout history and even today; as the idea that enslaving individuals is unethical emerged, many great and innovative authors began writing about the issues that enslaved people had to face. Olaudah Equiano was no exception. In his work The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, he attempts to persuade his readers that the American way of slavery is brutal, inhumane, and unscrupulous. Equiano manages to do this by minimizing the apparent differences between himself and his primarily white audience, mentioning the cruelties that he and many other slaves had to face, and the advantages of treating your slaves correctly.
This would lead him to a fantasy about what life would have been life back in Africa based on freedom. Equiano longed for freedom and suffered a traumatic experience (being enslaved) at a young age which may lead him to romanticize a different life. He believed that he would find his paradise in Africa. This can lead to a more favorable and positive view of Africa. He paints Africa as a place free of harm making him an unreliable source. By juxtaposing his freedom in Africa with his captivity in the colonies; he creates a biased image of his respective homeland. His reliability is questioned because he has no previous knowledge about life in Africa and only knows how it is described to him. His romanticized version of Africa gives a dynamic in his writing that negative towards the
Equiano starting out had caring captors, “[t]he people I was sold to used to carry me very often when I was tired either on their shoulders or on their backs” (Equiano 54). Equiano’s first master lost his wife and daughter causing the mental state to be off, so Equiano was sold. Luckily Equiano was able to see his sister once again, he felt the need to be there for her and try to aid the pain she was feeling. All slave masters admired Equiano and he was still live a fair well off life but, that would soon change when boards the slave ship. Equiano finally will see the true horrors of how slaves were treated, “...and I even wished for my former slavery in preference to my present situation” (Equiano
Racial adversity has proven very difficult to overcome, even in today’s society. Olaudah Equiano used his economic intelligence to provide him with the power to accumulate wealth and buy his freedom. Equiano knew he was dealt an uneasy hand of cards at life, but he played them as skillfully and intelligently as he could, with bare instincts. He took advantage of the situations that he was forced into and was able to win his hand at the game of slavery, for he found a way to manipulate the system that opposed him, and used it to his advantage.
In comparison to other slaves that are discussed over time, Olaudah Equiano truly does lead an ‘interesting’ life. While his time as a slave was very poor, there are certainly other slaves that he mentions that received far more damaging treatment than he did. In turn, this inspires him to fight for the abolishment of slavery. By pointing out both negative and positive events that occurred, the treatment he received from all of his masters, the impact that religion had on his life and how abolishing slavery could benefit the future of everyone as a whole, Equiano develops a compelling argument that does help aid the battle against slavery. For Olaudah Equiano’s life journey, he expressed an array of cruelties that came with living the life of an African slave; which demonstrates all of the suffering that he endured, then proving how much it can change one’s point of view in life.
Slavery was a practice throughout the American colonies in the 17th and 18th centuries, and through slavery, African-American slaves helped build the economic foundation of which America stands upon today, but this development only occurred with the sacrifice of the blood, sweat, and tears from the slaves that had been pushed into exhaustion by the slave masters. A narrative noting a lifetime of this history was the book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African written by Olaudah Equiano. Equiano was a prominent African involved in the British movement for the abolition of the slave trade. He was captured and enslaved as a child in his home town of Essaka in what is now known as south eastern Nigeria, later he was shipped to the West Indies, he then moved to England, and eventually purchased his freedom (Equiano). Olaudah Equiano, with many other millions of slaves, faced many hardships and was treated with inconceivable injustices by white slave masters and because of the severity of these cruel and barbarous occurrences, history will never forget these events.
Equiano’s journey begins as a child where he is kidnapped from his village along with his sister, Equiano’s childhood naivety is emphasized from the beginning of this narrative and is hinted at throughout, reflecting on the childish wonder of the young Equiano and making for an even more shocking narrative as a result of the European culture shock he faced along with the European treatment of slaves. Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa? New Light on Eighteenth-Century Question of Identity Vincent Carretta argues the birthplace of Olaudah Equiano, arguing that the author may not have been born in Africa but moreover born into slavery in South Carolina. Equiano himself states in The Interesting Narrative, a scholarly firestorm erupted over the
Equiano knew he had to please his masters in order to have any opportunity of freedom. He knew he had to find a way to stick with a kind master; otherwise he could be sold, mistreated and even killed. To do this he chose to build a rapport with his masters worked hard to be indispensable to them. Equiano negotiated trades, proving he was of value for more than just manual labor. Adapting to his environment by learning to read, write and speak English fluently was an intelligent way to advance his worth as a slave, and also to help himself in the future when he purchased his freedom. After he became a free man, he continued to think of methods to abolish slavery, his now primary goal in life. He positioned himself as a mediator to promote his message of anti-slavery to people of different classes and then went further to offer a solution for continued economic growth. Just as a trickster is able to transform in to whatever it needs to become, Equiano was both a protestor of slavery and an industrialist, when the time called for it.
"The Life of Olaudah Equiano” is a captivating story in which Equiano, the author, reflects on his life from becoming a slave to a freeman during the 19th century. Through his experiences and writing, Equiano paints a vivid picture of the atrocities and cruelties of European slavery. Ultimately through his narrative, Equiano intends to persuade his audience, the British government, to abolish the Atlantic slave trade as well as alert them of the harsh treatment of slaves. He successfully accomplishes his goal by subtly making arguments through the use of character, action, and setting.
Equiano argues and presses the reader and his audience to recognize that the African slave and the white slave owner are not as different as his audience may believe. In order to proclaim and showcase this idea of the value and worth of African slaves, Equiano uses the Christian religion to develop and sustain his argument. In many cases during Equiano’s time period, and for a while afterwards, Christianity and the Bible were used in defense of slavery, and this fact makes Equiano’s claim more powerful and groundbreaking. One of the key attributes of the novel is Equiano’s spiritual conversion and religious revelations. I believe that Equiano’s Christianity serves to connect him with his audience, increases his credibility as an author, and ultimately proclaims the disparity between the views of the slaves’ worth as merely economical, and the assumed Christian morality of the slave traders and his audience....
...olitionist about the Zong massacre where 132 slaves were chained together and drowned in the ocean so the Zong's owners could collect the insurance money. Equiano tries to help poor blacks by making sure everything is ligit in the Sierra Leone expedition. Equiano also lobbies high officials to end slavery. For example, he writes to the queen telling her of tyranny in the West Indies and the oppression and cruelty exercised to the negroes there. He signs this letter Gustavus Vassa, the oppressed Ethiopian. After Equiano wrote his book he traveled throughout the British Isles giving speeches and denouncing slavery as an evil institution. I was surprised that Equiano didn't have a deep resentment and hatred toward all white people because of slavery and the way he was treated. Because of this and his relentless fight against slavery, Olaudah Equiano is a hero.