Oroonoko By Aphra Behn Analysis

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‘Oroonoko’ by Aphra Behn, also known as ‘The Royal Slave’ was published in 1688 by William Canning. It told the story of an african Prince who is tricked into slavery and sold to Colonists in Surinam. Within his journey, he meets the narrator who is telling the story to the reader. As Oroonoko is the story of a slave, that theme is communicated throughout the book. Many say Oroonoko is an anti-slavery novel due to the speech he makes towards his own fellow slaves, but it just is the story about a slave; which, in the time it was written would have created a more empathetic response from at the time. Behn’s “Oroonoko” is quite complex when it comes to being considered a novel. She does not ever really say that it is a novel, even though it was …show more content…
Slave naming was seen as the master’s domain, or were approved by plantation authorities. This is first explained by the narrator as slave owners renaming their slaves for ease of pronunciation, she “lumps Oroonoko into the category of ‘them’ but with a glorious name” (Cornish, p5). Oroonoko is seen as exceptional because he seems europian on the inside, and since his skin was lighter than the other native africans, he was more privileged. His new name ‘Caesar’ allows him to be accepted more in the western world, as he had to be appropriated and “rendered exchangeable in the word and flesh” (Ingrassia, p243). But this does not change the fact that Caesar was a name given to dogs in england, and by naming Oroonoko ‘dog’ it communicates the truth of the condition which he and his fellow slaves find themselves. Within the passage, after he listens to the suffering of those behind him, Oroonoko delivers a speech. Even in this, he describes how they are seen as dogs, “that loved that whip and bell” (Behn, p62) That they were seen as less than human, like a pet that obeyed their masters no matter what. That somehow like a donkey, or dog, or horse - would only relax when they finished their duty, only to work even harder the next day. Oroonoko points out how their humanity has been stripped away, that even he is not standing human and is seen as a dog. Even though Oroonoko was seen to be more civilised, “a gallant slave,” the fact that he was tricked into slavery himself had “dubbed him a dog” (Ingrassia, p244) and he stayed in that state. As he describes to the other slaves that they are bought like apes and monkeys, the idea that they are seen as animals are emphasised - and just like animals are used for sport so are they. Even though Oroonoko appears to admire the white nation, it brings about his own downfall and gives him such

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