Symbolism In The Novel Oroonoko

Writing on slavery, Aphra Behn in the novella Oroonoko; Or, The Royal Slave, is clever in putting together the life of a slave and that of the white man to create the character Oroonoko. Throughout Oroonoko, Behn places the character Oroonoko, between the top of the hierarchy of society as a Prince in his native country, that then parallels to being part of the society of the Englishman. However, such ideas are then balanced by the verity that Oroonoko is a black man who then is turned into a slave. That balance is carried throughout the novel, which becomes vital for bringing the reader to connect with the text through Oroonoko, and for the life of a slave to connect with the reader, which Behn does effectively in order to form and convey

She does this through Oroonoko, who is in search of revenge after suffering in the life of a common slave. This struggle on part by Oroonoko is expressed when he proclaims, “ ‘No, I will not kill myself, even after a whipping, but will be content to live with that infamy, and be pointed at by every grinning slave, till I have completed my revenge. . .” (2353). Oroonoko exemplifies this grit and yearning to become free from slavery even if he has to suffer. He is in search of that revenge from his betrayal into slavery, and the harm that has been done to him by the white man. However, the revenge, it could be said, is not that towards Byam, but Behn tries to push it onto the reader. Behn is pursuing revenge onto the reader through the text, a revenge to make those who benefitted from slavery to take into account that slavery at its core is bad. It is truly clever on Behn’s part to put such an idea towards the end, because by finishing the narrative, the reader finds themselves to have gone through the struggles of Oroonoko, and slavery. Hence, the bigger revenge could be reverberated from Behn onto Oroonoko then onto the readers, in an effort to get the message across that slavery is bad. It is in this way that Behn makes the novella an emancipatory