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Equiano's story
Equiano's story
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The narrative of Olaudah Equiano entails the story of a journey of a man. He grew up in Eboe province of Africa, a home he describes with an established system of law and marriage comprised of dancers, singers, musicians, and poets. Where manners were mild and luxuries were few. In regards to religion, the people of Eboe believed in one Creator who resided in the sun, and was only present for major life events. Equiano encourages his readers to recognize this in comparison to European cultures, and understand civilized culture “is not confined to feature of colour”. The idea Equiano implied was that just because one is ignorant to another’s culture, doesn’t make them inferior, but rather just untaught, which is what the Africans were, upon
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.
In the first segment of his film series, Different but Equal, Basil Davidson sets out to disprove the fictitious and degrading assumptions about African civilization made by various Western scholars and explorers. Whether it is the notion that Africans are “savage and crude in nature” or the presumed inability of Africans to advance technologically, these stereotypes are damaging to the image and history of Africa. Although European Renaissance art depicts the races of white and black in equal dignity, there was a drastic shift of European attitudes toward Africa that placed Africans in a much lower standing than people of any other culture. The continent of Africa quickly became ravished by the inhuman slave trade and any traditional civilization
Olaudah Equiano demonstrates a shift in tone from dark to fanciful while on the ship highlighting the true tragedy of enslaving young children. In the compacted ship, Equiano describes hearing “the shrieks of women, and the groans of the dying… (as) a scene of horror” (45). Equiano darkly describes his everyday life leading up to slavery as a “scene of horror”. The author's strategic use of diction ultimately creates sympathy from the reader as he explains the hardships of slavery. Soon after, men from the ship “make [Equiano]... look through…(a) quadrant…heighten[ing] (his) wonder (and) persuad[ing] (equiano) that [he] was in another world...and that everything...was magic” (47). Despite his terrible situation, Equiano is still able to find
For example, when Equiano asserts “As if it were no crime in the whites to rob an innocent African girl of her virtue; but most heinous in a black man only to gratify a passion of nature, where the temptation was offered by one of a different color, though the most abandoned woman of her species (754),” he wishes to show the hypocrisy in the treatment of black men in comparison to white men. Invoking an emotional connection is an important element in literature, but especially during the Enlightenment. Illustrating that both blacks and whites share the common bond of humanity, helps makes Equiano’s narrative easier to digest. While some may criticize Equiano’s narrative for its accessibility, it fits with the theme of the
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
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.
The temptation in reviewing The Interesting Narrative is to dust off aphorisms about the nature of history and the purpose of history and whose job it is to define history. As an autobiography, Olaudah Equiano’s story can and should be scrutinized as something short of an ideal account. There are numerous passages that have been debunked by scholars, and more than a few devices that seem to have been lifted whole cloth from other best-sellers of the day. Equiano repeatedly emphasized his relative good fortune, and in light of the fact that he has managed to dodge the reputation of a charlatan, he appears to have been blessed with prescience as well as humility. Yet to analyze The Interesting Narrative in terms of objective truth in the way one might delve into A
Expressing Racism in Song of Solomon, Push and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
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.
Olaudah Equiano had very obvious motives for lying about his roots in West Africa. This novel was published in the height of the debate over the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade. Equiano’s lie would have changed the impact of the book entirely. Since the debate at the time was over the abolition of the Atlantic slave trade and not the abolition of slavery, people were not interested in the evils of slavery, they were interested in the evils of the middle passage and taking people out of their natural African habitats. Therefore, without Equiano’s description of his “idealic” African village of which he grew up and the evils of the middle passage he experienced, his novel would have been useless for the time to which it was written (Carey 241).
Equiano was an adult when he wrote this, which was an account of his childhood thirty years prior. This is important, because stories change over years. They are lavished upon, things are forgotten, and stories seem to take on a whole new meaning. This story could be completely true, or it could be completely fake to make people think it was worse than it really was. Also, if Equiano was born In South Carolina, and not Africa, this text could be completely false. If he was born there, and never came from Africa, then this account is false, and should be considered as
Equiano’s literacy greatly contributed to the abolition movement because of his elite participation in it. Although his narrative was not the first to be released, it was significant because of his status as a former black slave and the fact that he wrote his book without any assistance from a white editor. This shows proof that Africans have the ability to be literate and the intelligence to use it politically. This has proved wrong the assumption that Africans cannot receive instructions. It further shows that the intellectual ability between the white and black people is the
Olaudah Equiano's, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, was such a compelling memoir. From his experience of seeing people of different “complexions”, to being beaten, and then almost suffocating from being forced to live in filth and confinement (Perkins 166). The cruelty Equiano experienced was being hungry but having to watch the whites eat fish and fill themselves full but rather giving the extra fish to the slaves, they would throw the fish back into the ocean (Perkins 166). Equiano's experience is a deeply involved slave narrative that captivates the reader, becoming a writing that is easy to read and helps the reader feel as if he/she is seeing it for themselves.
Knowledge can be defined as skills or expertise gained from books which is education or from experience. Individuals can be knowledgeable even if they didn’t go to school especially when they have some inborn skills and are employed to work in certain areas. Such people will gain self-knowledge from the experience (Cassidy, 2014). Basically, knowledge is a practical or a theoretical understanding of a concept, therefore knowledge can be gained through experience and books. However, most of the knowledge we gain is as a result of participation in real situations. We’ll start with the novel “The death of Evan llyich” to see how self-knowledge and outside knowledge relate and complement each other. Generally, this book is all about Ivan struggling
In the novel, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe, Achebe attempts to restore the dignity and self-respect of the African people. The novel is primarily set in the pre-colonial Igboland society which is a deeply organised society with a deeply entrenched belief system and social hierarchy. According to Achebe, this novel is a response to the portrayals of Africans in colonial novels as unsophisticated, uncultured and undeveloped. Therefore, this essay will show that Achebe attempts to undo those perceptions and restore the dignity and self-respect of the Africans by showcasing the beliefs, traditions and daily lives of the Igbo people as being meaningful and deeply considered. This can be seen in the episodes where Okoye visits Unoka to discuss