Analysis Of The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano

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Nicho Dawi Student ID: 20211624 Question C More Than Just Luck In the autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano. Born in 1745, Equiano describes his life of being an native african, who was kidnapped from his homeland in the Eboe at the age eleven and was partaken in the African slave trade. Equiano encountered many facets of life during his journey around the world that no one could have expected. He was then able to regained his freedom unlike most of the victims of the slave trade. Equiano Olaudah considered himself “a particular favorite of heaven” and having good fortune regardless of the challenges and the suffering he faced while serving as a slave. Olaudah's good fortune is shown when …show more content…

He encountered many circumstances where God saved him throughout his journey. In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Equiano mentioned that, “[He] began to seriously reflect on the dangers [he] had escaped, particularly those of my last voyage, which made a lasting impression on [his] mind, and by the grace of God, proved afterwards a mercy to [him]” (154). Equiano’s ship was in danger due to the extreme storm that was happening and they were able to escape unharmed. Therefore, he couldn't thank God more than enough for aiding him during his dangerous voyage. In addition, Equiano was also lucky that he escaped death when he fell from the upper deck of the ship in which he didn’t suffer any injuries. In the book, Equino believed that, “[He] trust [that God] heard [his] supplications and graciously condescended to answer [him] according to [God’s] holy word” (83). Equiano thought he was dead during his fall from the ship, but God answered his prayers and prevented him from suffering any injuries. He heavily relied on his faith to give him the strength to overcome difficult situations. Despite the negative aspects of his journey, he was blessed to be given the opportunity to be …show more content…

In the beginning, Equiano did not know Europeans existed or know anything about the Europeans since his village was isolated from the kingdom. When he first encountered the Europeans, he experienced a culture shock and thought that the Europeans were cruel and greedy. In addition, the culture shock motivated him to learn to understand the Europeans and their culture. Throughout his journey, Equiano seeked to imitate the Europeans by observing them and educating himself. In the book, Equiano expressed that, “[He] could now speak english tolerably well, and [he] perfectly understood everything that was said. [He] now not only felt [himself] quite easy with [the Europeans], but relished their society and manners. [He] no longer looked upon them as spirits, ... therefore [he] had the stronger desire to resemble them; to imbibe their spirit, and imitate their manners; ... every new thing that [he] observed, [he] treasured up in [his] memory“ (74). Equiano became civilized after learning the culture and customs, Furthermore, he was able to establish himself a new identity in the society. He even argued that Africans are not less smarter nor inferior than Europeans since the Africans simply haven’t been educated in the same way. Equiano’s strong desire to adapt to the culture and customs helped him develop as a

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