Slavery And Self-Knowledge

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Slavery and the Relationship between Outside Knowledge and Self-Knowledge The ability to generalize what one has learned beyond the original context can either compliment or cause a conflict to a person’s understanding of a topic. While many like to believe that the most important lessons are learned in school, others will argue reversely; suggesting that beneficial knowledge is gained outside of school. Therefore, the relationship between outside knowledge and self-knowledge is essential to understand literary works of slavery and its abolishment. The mere mention of slavery provokes mixed emotions from people from various walks of life and/or race. This is especially true, as some people have ancestors that used to be slaves, have experienced …show more content…

For example in school, we learn about slavery, how it came into existence, the treatment of slaves, anti-slavery advocacy, and eventually the abolishment of slavery; yet many are not able to understand the extinct of the lives that were destroyed because they are not directly affected by slavery thus causing a tension between the two. This is especially true when reading “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”, in this narrative autobiography Equiano tells his story with a fair and historically tone in his perspective to help his readers remain unbiased, in hopes of gaining trust. This is done by portraying his master as a fair and appreciative of his services and behavior because of the perks he received as a slave. While doing this, Equiano does not fall short when describing the treatment of fellow slaves; as he paints an indescribable account of their treatment as well. In his writing, he provides a convincing explanation of the horrors of the slave trade; both outside knowledge and self-knowledge of slavery would be convinced of the inhumane treatment endured by reading this story. However, to elaborate further on the conflict between outside knowledge and self-knowledge, Equiano was sold numerous times; yet there was a time he fainted because he allowed his self-knowledge to determine the his fate after seeing other slaves in chains on a boat deck. Equiano specifically says: “I no longer doubted of my fate; and, quite overpowered with horror and anguish, I fell motionless on the deck and fainted” (Equiano). These feelings of fear overwhelmed him as he thought he was going to be eaten by white people; thus causing him to not eat and being flogged for this

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