Olaudah Equiano

1538 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Olaudah equiano narrative summary

The consensus of the people of the 18th century and Denis Diderot's encyclopedia defined savages as "Barbarous people who live without law, without governance, without religion, and who have no fixed habitation" making them ignorant to the world around them. The term, savages, was commonly associated with Africans especially during the slave trade. The definition influenced published works of the time period with many works depicted the Africans as savages and inferior to the Europeans. An example of a piece of literature that did not depict Africans in this manner was Equiano's 1789 autobiography The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. The author was a former slave recalling his experiences in the slave and in the process …show more content…

The author flips around the accusation that Africans were ignorant by offering his personal take on the issue. He states that "when they (Africans) come among Europeans, they are ignorant of their language, religion, manners, and customs" (Equiano 86). During his time as a slave, Equiano picked up the English language and some mannerism of the whites. However, in actuality it would make no difference if Equiano adopted every aspect of white culture because he still would have been viewed as inferior and worthless based just on the color of his skin and country of originated. When it came to race and worth, the Europeans developed a mindset that it was their way or the highway, which sparked their superiority complex. When Africans like Equiano encountered white culture for the first time they were fascinated with their customs and interactions. However, the situation is completely opposite when it involves a white being introduced to African culture where the whites see the culture as different and instinctively positions it below their culture without taking any interest in learning anything new about the world and thus making them …show more content…

Gulliver's master took a fascination with the cultures of Europe and often asked Gulliver of things that occurred in his land that did not take placed among the Houyhnhnms. During one of the conversations, the subject of war and the mean of it ensued in which Gulliver described instances where rulers might go to war to display power over weaker nations, a matter of difference in opinions, or that a ruler thirst for new lands and resources. When Gulliver started to talk about the weapons and damages of war, his master silenced him and said, "whoever understood the nature of Yahoos might easily believe it possible for so vile an animal, to be capable of every action I had named, if their strength and cunning equaled their malice" (Swift 285). Gulliver had to escape European culture to really get an in-depth perspective of what was actually going on in his homeland. He realized that the majority of reasons wars were conducted was to benefit the ruler of nations or provoke fear into subjects lower on the social ladder. Gulliver came to terms that war is a brutal act that humans invented and partake in to prove their dominance over other people which is eerily similar to what the Europeans have down to the Africans during the time

Show More
Related

  • The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

    1532 Words  | 4 Pages

    The novel The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano exists as an extremely important work in the abolitionist movement in England. As an 18th century narrative written by a former black slave, the novel provides a glimpse into the lives of the African slaves involved in the slave trade as well as the slave traders themselves. Even with the controversy over the authenticity of Equiano’s claims on his origin in Africa and his subsequent voyage through the Middle Passage, this novel serves as a powerfully instructive piece of literature. Throughout the novel, Equiano strives to impress upon the reader a certain set of moral standards or ideals that he desires to instruct the reader about. One such moral ideal that is prevalent throughout the entirety of the novel is Equiano’s construction of the idea of the value and worth of the African slaves, as opposed to the view of the African slaves as simply commodities or objects to be purchased and traded.

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano

    1309 Words  | 3 Pages

    Olaudah Equiano (Gustavus Vassa) was kidnapped from his African village at the age of eleven, shipped through the arduous "Middle Passage" of the Atlantic Ocean, seasoned in the West Indies and sold to a Virginia planter. He was later bought by a British naval Officer, Captain Pascal, as a present for his cousins in London. After ten years of enslavement throughout the North American continent, where he assisted his merchant slave master and worked as a seaman, Equiano bought his freedom. At the age of forty four he wrote and published his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African. Written by Himself, which he registered at Stationer's Hall, London, in 1789. More than two centuries later, this work is recognized not only as one of the first works written in English by a former slave, but perhaps more important as the paradigm of the slave narrative, a new literary genre.

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Summary

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    A major reason for his popularity was his autobiography containing a detailed account of his birth and childhood in Nigeria. His narrative of the Atlantic crossing on a slave ship is as unique as it is moving. Along with Thomas Clarkson, William Wilberforce, and Granville Sharpe, Equiano was a major abolitionist working to expose the nature of shameful slave trades. This resource is helpful since it describes Equiano’s travels throughout Britain while promoting his book.

    Read More

  • Essay On Olaudah Equiano

    1140 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the late 18th Century an ex-slave from Nigeria wrote an influential work that helped to end the British Slave trade. Olaudah Equiano, or Gusta Vassa, wrote The interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gusta Vassa, the African in 1789 which told of his personal experiences with slavery from a rational, persuasive point of view, focusing on the religious aspects of Christianity, the worth of Africans and the brutally detrimental effects of the slave trade. He was particularly calculated in his appeals since they were effective in the use of ethos, pathos and logos.

    Read More

  • The Interesting Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano

    727 Words  | 2 Pages

    This is what brings discredit to his writings in the first-hand description. There were many published documents across Europe detailing tales and traditions that circulated among slaves and former slaves (Lovejoy, 332). If Equiano is guilty of falsifying his past, then it was to fill a need of African experiences to fully abolish slavery with the suspicious publication date. For all actions done right, one mistake can cause the entire story to crumble, even if it was done for a significant reason. According to Lovejoy, his documentation of Creole birth in South Carolina was drafted at the hands of Mary and Maynard Guerin, who were cousins of Pascal (336). This was done to allow Equiano more rights and greater freedom of movement in Europe, instead of being considered of African birth. Equiano negated this in his 9th edition of The Interesting Narrative when he appealed to his readers to not be discouraged and believe the fallacies, that in truth he was born of Africa and could only speak but that of Africa. (Lovejoy,

    Read More

  • The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olauda Equiano

    860 Words  | 2 Pages

    The narrative by Olaudah Equiano gives an interesting perspective of slavery both within and outside of Africa in the eighteenth century. From these writings we can gain insight into the religion and customs of an African culture. We can also see how developed the system of trade was within Africa, and worldwide by this time. Finally, we hear an insider's view on being enslaved, how slaves were treated in Africa, and what the treatment of African slaves was like at the hands of the Europeans.

    Read More

  • Olaudah Equiano Essay

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    During the 17th century the self-appointed superior white explorers had seen a profitable opportunity to show off their superiority by ripping away young Africans from their families and selling them into slavery solely based on their inferior seeming dark skin tone. Unjustly, based on no evidence at all, Africans such as Equiano were seen as uncivilized, barbaric, and un-human by the wealthy Europeans. Equiano in his narrative is persuading his readers to remove any injustice and discrimination against Africans that is based solely on skin color. Just because the Africans were simply unaware of European society and un aware of other cultures. The Europeans should remember that their own ancestors were once "uncivilized, and even barbarous."(insert citation). It is a common misconception that white skin tone is seen as superior, but that is far from true, the changes of our skin tone is a product of our surroundings, from Darwin’s evolutionary ideologies we can draw the conclusion that if ones ancestors trace back to hot tropical climates, their skin will be a darker tone in order to absorb more of the suns pressure that is put on ...

    Read More

  • The Story Of Olaudah Equiano

    880 Words  | 2 Pages

    Also, in some occurrences when particular things can be told about Africa, Equiano uses less detail to do so. as well as he doesn't add footnotes about Africa when he mentions certain things. In the opening sentence “that 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” can be correlated to a passage from Benezet’s Some Historical Account of Guinea: “That part of Africa from which the Negroes are sold to be carried into slavery, commonly known by the name of Guinea, extends along the coast three or four thousand miles” (356). This passage just makes readers recognize that when the information is finally verified, it relates back to a European source.... ... middle of paper ...

    Read More

  • The Role Of Narrative In Olaudah Equiano's Journey

    538 Words  | 2 Pages

    Equiano’s cultural child-like innocence is further highlighted through the mistaking of everyday European items as being “magical”. Not because they are magical but rather because they were objects Equiano as well as most slaves had never encountered before, this became a large reason in the justification of slavery, as the idea was held that the West were merely attempting to humanize what they believed to be unhuman animals just because they were unfamiliar with objects such as these, yet when we examine the first part of Equiano’s narration, we see the opposite of “animals” but rather a different culture, thriving within Africa. Volume I opens with a description of Equiano's native African culture, including customs associated with clothing, food, and religious practices. He likens the inhabitants of Eboe to the early Jews, and offers a theory that dark African skin is a result of exposure to the hot, tropical

    Read More

  • Summary Of Olaundah Equiano

    1246 Words  | 3 Pages

    In, conclusion the experiences of Equiano’s servitude in Africa differed from his experience in England. The African slave trade primarily was based upon providing jobs to families or punishment to real criminals. Many times the cruel example of being kidnapped from your village and forced into this way of life was also prevalent. This narrative contains the terrifying events of a young a child being held captive. The sources we have of the truth from this period of time are limited and hard to obtain. Servitude still exists to today in many parts of Africa and will remain a common part of their

    Read More

  • Gulliver's change throughout Gulliver's Travels

    922 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the second part of the book, Gulliver finds himself living with a group of giants called Brobdingnagians. During his stays with the giants, he is very pleased with their society and the long conversations that he is able to have with the queen. Since he is so tiny, he finds himself defending himself against animals and one man that is upset that he is no longer the smallest man. During his fights, we see Gulliver turning into a fighter because his life depends on how well he can protect himself.

    Read More

  • Changing Perspective in Gulliver’s Travels

    578 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver learns that experiencing different lifestyles he thought were better than his own actually makes him appreciate his own life with a more meaningful disposition through his journeys to Lilliput, Brobdingnag, and the Country of the Houyhnhnms. Gulliver’s journey to Lilliput effectuated forlorn feelings of his home. Likewise, Gulliver’s trek to Brobdingnag assists in his realization that changing perspectives also alter his attitude towards his homeland. Finally, Gulliver’s expedition to the Country of Houyhnhnms, where horses act civilized on and people act like wild animals. Gulliver soon learns that through his mystical journeys that changing the perspective in which he views the world reverses feelings of gratefulness towards his home. Gulliver’s first journey set sail to the Lilliputians on May 4th, 1699.

    Read More

  • The Houyhnhnms in Gulliver's Travels

    520 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the last part of the novel Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift, a dichotomy is established which crtiticizes two extreme ideas of man. The Houynhnms, a race of horses, are meant to symbolize man as a supremely rational being and the Yahoos, a primitive, vulgar version of humans, are made to symbolize man as an animal. The narrator Gulliver is a sort of reference point between the two, since in physical appearance he seems to be a Yahoo, but his ability to reason enables him to relate well to the Houynhnms. Readers have interrpreted the rational horses in a number of different ways. Some feel that the Houynhnms are the ideal to which humans should strive to attain. Others feel that the Houynhnms are as evil as the Yahoos. It is my opinion that Swift uses the Houynhnms and the Yahoos to illustrate both ends of the unattainable spectrum of reason, and why both are completely undesireable ways of life.

    Read More

  • Abuse of power in Gulliver's travels

    1700 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...hat people abuse the power that is given to them. The different voyages serve to display different lands with different types of cultures and peoples. In doing so, Gulliver’s Travels demonstrates that regardless of different cultures and societies, people everywhere will abuse the power given to them.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Experiences In Gulliver's Travels

    1835 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lemuel Gulliver recounts his findings over four of his most impactful voyages in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. In Gulliver’s Travels, Gulliver gives his own candid account of all significant characters encountered and manages to fall into almost every influential person’s favor. Swift tactically shapes Gulliver’s encounters with characters from varying backgrounds to compare the behavior of the esteemed nobility with the behavior of commoners. Swift has Gulliver alter his demeanor based on his present surroundings to appeal to those around him and maintain his pride. By doing so, Swift intended to didactically explain his contempt for nobility, his misanthropy, and the dangers of pride.

    Read More

More about Olaudah Equiano

Open Document