Inhumane Life In Olaudah Equiano

A native of the Ibo tribe of Nigeria, Africa, and author of “An African Narrative by Olaudah Equiano (1791)”, Olaudah Equiano endured a cruel and inhumane life of slavery. Kidnapped and carried aboard a ship by both Africans and European traders, Equiano became a victim of slavery at the ripe age of eleven. Although Equiano was familiar with slavery, due to his father owning slaves, it became very apparent to him that the “Euro-American concept of slavery was quite different from the African one” (1791). Reduced to a lifestyle so harsh, he often saw death as an attractive alternative, with many of his fellow companions who existed in the same or sometimes worse lifestyle, in fact, choosing death to escape the ruthless, barbarous, and torturous treatment that was the life of a slave. Despite facing slavery on several fronts, Africa, West Indies and Europe, and though the treatment he received and the people he encountered differed, Equiano managed to survive. Though he

After inhabiting the Island of Barbados for a few days Equiano and many others deemed unsaleable were shipped off to North America. Unlike his journey aboard the ship to Barbados, the conditions Equiano encountered were more favorable and feasible than before. He feasted upon rice and pork and was treated better than he had been before. Not long after, the ship landed near Virginia County, where there had been hardly any Africans. For weeks, he worked in the fields, weeding grass and gathering stones, while all the slaves amongst him were sold off until only he remained. Sadly, at this point, Equiano wished for death now more than ever. He was alone and isolated with no one to talk to, unlike the slaves that had been sold off together, and he felt as though his conditions were far worse than theirs and he longed for