Comparing The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano and Wiesel’s The Death of My Father
This essay will focus on the two works, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano by Olauda Equiano and "The Death of My Father" by Elie Wiesel. Although these works are quite different, at the same time they are sadly similar.
Both works have value to me as they describe events that have historical significance. Their personal descriptions of these events help one better feel and understand the atrocities inflicted on both the African and Jewish people.
Equiano's was most poignant as it details the crimes committed against the African people. Equiano's story tells us of his abduction and separation from his family, particularly his little sister. I learned that slaves were bought and sold in Africa, from African to African. I guess I just never realized that this was a practice before European influence. Of course, the difference seems to be that the African masters did not ill treat their slaves. It was not until Equiano was sold to the white traders that he became "converted into terror" and even after many years had passed he was "yet at a loss to describe" (479).
Equiano's graphic account of the conditions on board the slave ship pained me as I read. I could only imagine the suffering as he described "the heat," "the air...unfit for respiration" and the "shrieks...and the groans of the dying" (481). While Equiano was luckier than most, if it can be considered luck. He reports the general treatment of slaves by their owners following their arrival in America. Equiano tells of sexual assaults against the slave women to include young children, the maiming and torture as punishment for a myriad o...
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..." (1829). Wiesel is saying that if God existed, why would he have allowed the Holocaust to happen? Of course, this is one question among many that will never be answered for him.
In the end Wiesel resigns himself to go to the synagogue, light the candles, and say the Kiddish for his father.
Both of these writings were of value for me as they were not mere entertainment. They were stories of human suffering, suffering at the hands of other human beings. Although I have read many stories about the slave trade and the Holocaust, I still find each and every story more horrifying and saddening than the last. I, like Wiesel, cannot understand how such cruelties could have been inflicted upon anyone. How human beings could lack compassion and empathy for others is so far beyond my understanding that there are no words with which to explain my feelings....
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
Both Elie Wiesel and Chanrity Him went through traumatic, and life changing experiences during their lives. They both went through the dramatic change in leadership in the societies that they lived in. Both regimes that were attempting to take control of both Wiesel and Him’s societies used forceful and brutal tactics to those who didn’t fit in their idea of society. The things that Wiesel and Him experienced during each of their societies attempt at revolution are both very similar, yet different at the same time. The regimes behind these attempted revolutions somewhat defied what both Frederic Bastiat and Karl Marx thought about government and the role that it should play in societies.
”(Wiesel 79) Chlomo -Wiesel’s father -changed emotionally and physically. He was put through incredible labor along with other prisoners and started to forget why it was important to survive. “‘I can’t go on. This is the end. When Wiesel first met Moshe the Beadle, he would chant and sing.
Many themes exist in Night, Elie Wiesel’s nightmarish story of his Holocaust experience. From normal life in a small town to physical abuse in concentration camps, Night chronicles the journey of Wiesel’s teenage years. Neither Wiesel nor any of the Jews in Sighet could have imagined the horrors that would befall them as their lives changed under the Nazi regime. The Jews all lived peaceful, civilized lives before the German occupation. Eliezer Wiesel was concerned with mysticism and his father was “more involved with the welfare of others than with that of his own kin” (4).
The Holocaust will forever be known as one of the largest genocides ever recorded in history. 11 million perished, and 6 million of the departed were Jewish. The concentration camps where the prisoners were held were considered to be the closest one could get to a living hell. There is no surprise that the men, women, and children there were afraid. One is considered blessed to have a family member alongside oneself.
Mr. Wiesel had intended this book to describe a period of time in his life that had been dark and sorrowful. This novel is based on a survivor of the greatest Holocaust in history, Eliezer Wiesel and his journey of being a Jew in 1944. The journey had started in Sighet, Transylvania, where Elie spent his childhood. During the Second World War, Germans came to Elie and his family’s home town. They brought with them unnecessary evil and despair to mankind. Shortly after young Elie and thousands of other Jews were forced from their habitats and torn from their rights of being human. They were sent to different concentration camps. Elie and his family were sent to Auschwitz, a concentration and extermination camp. It would be the last time Elie sees his mother and little sister, Tzipora. The first sights of Auschwitz were terrifying. There were big flames coming from the burning of bodies and the crematoriums. The Jews had no idea of what to expect. They were not told what was about to happen to them. During the concentration camp, there was endless death and torture. The Jews were starved and were treated worse than cattle. The prisoners began to question their faith in God, wondering why God himself would
Humans are intricate. They have built civilizations and invented the concept of society, moving accordingly from savage primal instincts to disciplined behaviour. William Golding, however, does not praise humanity in his pessimistic novel, Lord of The Flies, which tells the story of a group of British schoolboys who are stranded on an uninhabited tropical island without any adults – a dystopia. Golding evidently expresses three views of humanity in this novel. He suggests that, without the rules and restrictions on which societies and civilizations are built, humans are intrinsically selfish, impulsive and violent.
The first two boys to meet each other were Ralph and another boy who although he protested, reluctantly accepted the nickname “Piggy”. The boys romped around, having fun swimming and running around until they chanced upon a conch. Piggy suggested to Ralph that he blow the conch to call the others. Ralph figured out how to blow the conch and proceeded to call the others. Slowly but surely, all the remaining survivors started trickling in to the cove where Ralph and Piggy had found the conch. Ralph proposed that they vote for a chief, and the all the boys except for the choir, voted for Ralph. Ralph’s first matter of business is to go on a hunt to make sure that this really is an island. He takes Jack and another boy, Simon and goes to the highest point on the island to scout out their newfound home. The trio confirms their theory that this is an island and they are indeed the sole inhabitants.
Ralph - Ralph is one of the older kids stranded on the island, one with a natural leadership quality about him. He is one of the stronger, if not the strongest of the boys; 12 year old with common sense to help him get along on his own; unfortunately, common sense doesn’t fly too well with small children. Ralph is stuck between what is considered fun, and what needs to get done in order to have peace on the island. Not a position many would like to be in, but as he was chosen leader, he has the respect of most of the kids on the island.
b. The boy’s are not in a civilized area with adults to tell them what’s good, bad, right, or wrong, so they have to become adults in a short period of time when they are still very much children.
As a result of having two groups within the whole, a leader must emerge in order to keep the two groups working efficiently. Since there is no adult on the island to take on the responsibility, the character’s environment once again forces them to elect a leader. The person who is elected is Ralph. He is forced to be organized and insightful on how to keep everyone alive. This is shown through him organizing a way for people to voice their opinions in his meetings. It is also shown through him suggesting that they build shelter and appointing people to take on certain parts in that task.
"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.
While Simon was concealed in the forest, watching the self-proclaimed “hunters” kill a sow, he observed them place the head of this pig on a stick as an offering to the “beast.” After the hunters left, Simon began to see what that the pig’s head represented. It showed that an immense amount of turmoil was going to take place on the island. This turmoil began when Jack started his own little tribe that was comprised of all the hunters and offered anyone free membership. Everyone, except Ralph and Piggy, joined the new clique because Jack claimed that they would always have meat to eat. Ralph and Piggy knew that this was the wrong decision to make because Jack was very immature had no clue how to lead anyone and all he wanted to do was kill.
The novel Lord of the Flies by William Golding tells the story of a group of British schoolboys who must join together and fight for survival while stranded on a deserted island. Although they attempt to work together, their personalities clash, creating a power struggle and dividing their group. This division causes the boys to battle each other for dominance. Lord of the Flies can be read as a psychoanalytical allegory with themes of fear and power that connect to both historic as well as current events.
In the story “Lord of the Flies” by William Golding, he shows how the boys lost all innocence and civilization. The boys went from having innocent child minds to taking lives of other people, acting savage, and losing all civilization due to problems on the island. The boys had forgotten where they came from and became savage in order to survive; it was the need of survival that caused the loss of innocence among the boys.