The Narrative Style of Aphra Behn's Oroonoko

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Recommended: A thesis on role of the narrator in story telling

Oroonoko is an intriguing and epic story of a young African prince who gets tricked into becoming a slave for a workers plantation written by the first professional woman author, Aphra Behn. As the story is told by the narrator (who the reader will presume to be the author Aphra Behn) the reader gets a sense of a first hand perspective from the narrator. This allows the reader to only get a perspective from the narrator's point of view. As the story is told to the reader, the narrator seems to favour or share sympathy with Oroonoko and even in some cases, throw in a biased opinion. This is why the story of Oroonoko and his misfortunes should not be taken as a true account, but rather as a narrative biased opinionated tale.

When we first meet Oroonoko he is described physically by the narrator very descriptively and in depth. The narrator does an immensely intense job of describing all of the physically defining features that Oroonoko withholds. He is even fit to a description by the narrator as being an absolutely flawless human being with no imperfections except for the fact that he is black. He is described as "not of that brown rusty black which most of that nation are, but of perfect ebony, or polished jet. His eyes were the most awful that could be seen, and very piercing; the white of 'em being like snow, as were his teeth. His nose was rising and Roman, instead of African and flat. His mouth the finest shaped that could be seen; far from those great turned lips which are so natural to the rest of the negroes. The whole proportion and air of his face was so nobly and exactly formed that, bating his color, there could be nothing in nature more beautiful, agreeable, and handsome. There was no one grace wanting that bear...

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...n but one can conclude that when we read the story, the reader must be sure to know that what is happening is truly only one person's biased opinion.

Aphra Ben's story of Oroonoko is beautifully written, even for the first ever professional woman writer. The story takes the reader through the twists and turns of a portion of a young African Prince's life. However, with the narrator telling the story in the first person perspective we can only concur that what is being said may or may not be biased. As we see in the descriptions of Oroonoko, and even in the way Behn phrases her words, there is some clear favouritism going on. All in all, Oroonoko is a wonderful story that is narrated beautifully, but when one reads it, you must be aware of the first hand perspective and the bias because the events that happen could be exaggerated or understated by the narrator.

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