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1,400 words on the Narrative of Olaudah Equiano
1,400 words on the Narrative of Olaudah Equiano
Atlantic slave trade
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Today, cultures generally recognize the irrefutable humanity of all people, no matter how well they assimilate into new cultures. However, for white society in the 1700’s, the instances where blacks assimilated into the cultures and customs of the New World and Europe were the only instances when whites attempted to recognize their humanity. Olaudah Equiano wrote of his own assimilation into European culture in his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa. The ability of an African to seamlessly join European society held weight in the debate over whether or not blacks were human or not. The humanity of Africans was demonstrated to white society through Olaudah Equiano’s assimilation into European
His identity was very twofold: African and English. For instance, Equiano had not just one African name, “Olaudah Equiano”, but a second English one as well. Equiano interchanged his African name with the name he was given by his master, “Gustavas Vassa”. In daily life Equiano used these two names, but the fact that Equiano takes the time to include both of these names in the title of his narrative shows that even his primary way of identifying himself – his name – was bicultural. This dichotomy of Equiano’s cultural identification may suggest that he does not fully participate in his African identity and he therefore cannot be a true representative of their humanity. If Equiano considers himself to be just as African as he is English, is his assimilation into European culture demonstrating the humanity of black
For example, Equiano frequently recalls feelings and emotions that he experienced throughout his life, especially while a victim of the slave trade. Equiano was able to fully experience the horror of slavery and the depth of the trauma he experienced. In addition, Equiano is an excellent example of the absurdity of drapetomania; he purchased his own freedom from his master and went on to be an extremely successful and flourishing person. Lastly, Equiano himself wrote a large, impressive autobiography that has become a cornerstone of African American literature. Life simultaneously pulled misconceptions to pieces and contributed to the culture that Africans were creating in the New World and
He describes the ways in which he was considered fortunate amongst other slaves. Equiano confessed that all of his masters were “worthy and humane”, they treated him right and even gave him the gift of literacy and religion (709). He compares his experience to the experience of other less fortunate individuals, and finds that treating slaves in a kinder manner actually benefits the slave owners (Equiano 709). Equiano states that the slaves under more solicitous masters “were uncommonly cheerful and healthy, and did more work” (709). Furthermore, he mentions how many malevolent slave owners would have to replace their slaves very often in order to make up for the amount of slaves that would die due to the harsh and unhealthy conditions that the slaves were put in (709). Equiano does all of this in order to try and reason with his audience in a more efficient way. Equiano realized that trying to convince his audience that slavery was completely wrong would not work due to the very strong views on it in his time. Instead he tries to convince his audience to change the manner in which they treat their slaves in order to benefit themselves, which consequently would benefit the slaves and contribute to their
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
Everyone contributes something to the common stock; and, as we are unacquainted with idleness, we have no beggars” (39). The concept of slavery was accepted as a part of the culture and even in the fields of Isseke, Africa slaves were put to work. “Sometimes indeed, we sold slaves to them, but they were only prisoners of war, or such among us as had been convicted of kidnapping or adultery, and some other crimes, which we esteemed heinous.” (38) Equiano’s fortune landed him in the hands of a wealthy widow who purchased him from the traders who had kidnapped him. He lived the life as a companion to the widow and her son.
Olaudah Equiano in his Interesting Narrative is taken from his African home and thrown into a Western world completely foreign to him. Equiano is a slave for a total of ten years and endeavors to take on certain traits and customs of Western thinking. He takes great pains to improve himself, learn religion, and adopt Western mercantilism. However, Equiano holds on to a great deal of his African heritage. Throughout the narrative, the author keeps his African innocence and purity of intent; two qualities he finds sorely lacking in the Europeans. This compromise leaves him in a volatile middle ground between his adapted West and his native Africa. Olaudah Equiano takes on Western ideals while keeping several of his African values; this makes him a man associated with two cultures but a member of neither.
Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, and Olaudah Equiano all have extremely interesting slave narratives. During their lives, they faced plenty of racist discrimination and troubling moments. They were all forced into slavery at an awfully young age and they all had to fight for their freedom. In 1797, Truth was born into slavery in New York with the name of Isabella Van Wagener. She was a slave for most of her life and eventually got emancipated. Truth was an immense women’s suffrage activist. She went on to preach about her religious life, become apart of the abolitionist movement, and give public speeches. Truth wrote a well-known personal experience called An Account of an Experience with Discrimination, and she gave a few famous speech called Ain’t I a Woman? and Speech at New York City Convention. In 1818, Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey was born into slavery in Tuckahoe, Maryland. When he was older, he made an escape plan by disguising himself as a sailor and going on a train to New York. When he became a free man, he changed his name to Frederick Douglass and married Anna Murray. He went on to give many speeches and he became apart of the Anti-Slavery Society. Douglass wrote his story From My Bondage and My Freedom and became a publisher for a newspaper. In 1745, Olaudah Equiano was born in Essaka, Nigeria. Equiano and his sister were both kidnapped and put on the middle passage from Africa to Barbados and then finally to Virginia. He eventually saved enough money to buy his freedom and got married to Susanna Cullen. Equiano wrote his story down and named it From the Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. He spent the rest of his life promoting the abolition movement. Throughout the personal slave narra...
The story of Olaudah Equiano and his people went through a lot throughout the time of the 18th Century. Africans faced, “the part of Africa, known by the name of Guinea, to which the trade for slaves is carried on, extends along the coast above 3400 miles, from the Senegal to Angola, and includes a variety of kingdoms.” This is where it first started the business of slavery and selling and buying slaves for them to work for their owners. During this time men and women had to face different types of punishment from adultery and other types of reasons to put them to death, execution, but if the woman had a baby they were often spared to stay with their child. African’s displayed there different types of traditions through weddings, friends, public
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.
Equiano, Olaudah . The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written by Himself. 9th ed. W.W. Norton &Company, Inc., 2000. 448. print.
Equiano, Olaudah. "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African,Written By Himself." The Project Gutenberg. N.p., 17 Mar. 2005. Web. 5 Dec. 2013.
The creation of character is an instrumental part of Equiano’s strategy in convincing his intended audience. One of the characters that plays a crucial role in this strategy is himself. Through the creation of his own character, he is able to establish credibility, relate to his audience, and extinguish general stereotypes about Africans. One way Equiano successfully does this is by exhibiting qualities that present him as being morally justice and loyal. For example in Chapter 7, Equiano purchases his freedom and is purposeful to include the information that he got his freedom by legal means. He says “The captain then said he knew I got the money very honestly, and with much industry, and that I was particularly careful” (page131). By including this in the chapter, Equiano is limiting questions that his audience might have about how he got the money, and displaying the goodwill of his overall character. He continues within this chapter by showcasing his good character in not immediately leaving his slave master (Mr. King) after being given his freedom, but remaining with him out of appreciation and gratitude. Additionally, he is then even able ...
European slavers altered the way that different African people viewed one another and themselves. The book by Miguel Barnet, Biography of a Runaway Slave is a strong account that can be used to explore how Africans changed their perception of each other, and how this change influenced the lives of Africans in the Americas.
Equiano finally gains his liberty and begins to develop his character as he converts his religion and becomes a faithful man. Equiano immerses himself and is allowed to blend into Western society. Works Cited Equiano, Olaudah. [1789] 1987. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African.
I found the introduction to chapter one extremely interesting because Equiano's indirect characterization could be clearly seen. For instance, Equiano can be characterized as humble, informative, and educated. First, Equiano's ability to write in English like the European men shows him being African does not limit his education. The common misconception that Africans are not educated is what Equiano proves otherwise. Additionally, Equiano does not directly dive into the topic of slavery. Instead, he introduces how he is a writer of this narrative that does not expect an accolade for his work. Equiano's style of writing intrigued me because rather than pitying himself as a slave, he explains there is more to him than being inferior to the white
According to Equiano’s narrative, his knowledge of white men or Europeans is unheard of prior to him being enslaved. When Equiano spoke of his people, he spoke of them with immense pride, dignity, and respect. He considers even their slaves to be healthy, hearty, intelligent, zealous and without deformity. However, he states “I remember while in Africa to have seen three negro children, who were tawny, and another quite white, who were universally regarded…as deformed”. Because of the fair complexion of their skin (white), he viewed them as deformed.
The narrative of Olaudah Equiano is truly a magnificent one. Not only does the reader get to see the world through Equiano's own personal experiences, we get to read a major autobiography that combined the form of a slave narrative with that of a spiritual conversion autobiography. Religion may be viewed as at the heart of the matter in Equiano's long, remarkable journey. Through Equiano's own experiences, the reader uncovers just how massive a role religion played in the part of his Narrative and in that of his own life. More specifically, we learn of how his religious conversion meant a type of freedom as momentous as his own independence from slavery. As one reads his tale, one learns just how dedicated he his to that of his Christian faith; from his constant narration of the scriptures to the way that Equiano feels a growing sense of empowerment from the biblical texts for the oppressed community. However, at the same time, one may question Equiano's own Christian piety. Did Equiano really seek to tell the tale of his soul's spiritual journey, did he really believe God would set him free or was he simply using religion as a ways of manipulating British and American readers to accept him as a credible narrator. Regardless of which of these facts is true, religion is quite possibly the defining feature of his life story.