Olaudah Equiano Exemplification Of The Evil Of Slavery Analysis

Olaudah Equiano’s Exemplification of the Evils of Slavery In his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Equiano describes his early life in Africa and the shattering effects of the slave trade. From growing up and learning to be a man under the watchful and loving eye of his mother, to being torn from his family and home and being forced to travel throughout Africa before ultimately finding himself aboard a slave ship headed for America, He gives readers a unique view of life as an African during the 1700s. Many themes are explored in Equiano’s tale, but one cannot ignore the most prominent theme of the evil of slavery and the destruction that ensues.

Ancestry shows that general origins are similar, and one is not necessarily born better than another but works to improve oneself. What makes one society more civilized than another, besides years of work and enlightenment resulting in new technology and ways of thinking? The Europeans mistakenly saw Africans as wild and without culture. Africans were, in fact, full of culture and tradition, which was unfortunately partially loss due to the slave trade. Because Europeans saw

In a very powerful portion of this writing, Equiano speaks directly to his audience in an attempt to open their eyes to slavery and the pain it causes. He uses pathos appeals to make them understand the pain and suffering brought on by the destruction of families and separation of countrymen. Every rhetorical question he asks makes a powerful statement which he summarizes to the point that, “Surely this is a new refinement in cruelty, which, while it has no advantage to atone for it, thus aggravates distress, and adds fresh horrors even to the wretchedness of slavery” (Equiano 96). He forces his audience to question their own motives for slavery and calls to attention that there is no logic in tearing families apart for one’s personal