The books, “The Life of Olaudah Equiano” and “The History of Mary Prince” give first-hand accounts of slavery and how it affected them physically and emotionally. Slavery is as abhorrent as its proponents. In these books one can see the contrast between African and European slavery and how they justify it, the illusion of freedom some slave owners instilled in their slaves and how the term inferiority is used by the different types of slave proponents. But past all of this we also see how slavery can deteriorate human being in a short period of time.
African and European slavery are very distinct but they still hang on to the main idea of owning a human being. During the course of Olaudah Equiano’s life we see how he passed from being a …show more content…
It is stated all through both books in both direct and indirect ways. When Equiano states how in African slavery after a war “The spoils were divided according to the merit of the warriors. Those prisoners which were not sold or redeemed we kept as slaves”, this statement expresses how the Africans justified their enslavement with by highlighting how their opponents were inferior in battle. The treatment the Europeans gave the slaves expresses their thought on inferiority. Olaudah Equiano emphasizes this when he is boards a slave ship and states that: “I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating”, this points out the cruelty that the Africans suffered because of the way Europeans viewed them. Mary Prince also gives another example of the way Europeans viewed their slaves when she states: “There were two little slave boys in the house, on whom she vented her bad temper in a special manner.” Views of inferiority in both African and European cultures drove slavery but they differed greatly in treatment.
Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince are both give good first-hand examples of how slavery was in the 19th century. Slavery is repugnant and it proponents no matter how well they treat their slaves are part of the problem. There is no decent justification for slavery and the term inferiority does not follow up well in this topic. There is no decency in treating a slave well if you still consider him your property for in Olaudah’s case it led to an illusion that freedom was at a grasp. Bear in mind that slavery was and still is a problem we face and that these people had the chance to write about
African and European slavery are very distinct but they still hang on to the main idea of owning a human being. During the course of Olaudah Equiano’s life we see how he passed from being a …show more content…
It is stated all through both books in both direct and indirect ways. When Equiano states how in African slavery after a war “The spoils were divided according to the merit of the warriors. Those prisoners which were not sold or redeemed we kept as slaves”, this statement expresses how the Africans justified their enslavement with by highlighting how their opponents were inferior in battle. The treatment the Europeans gave the slaves expresses their thought on inferiority. Olaudah Equiano emphasizes this when he is boards a slave ship and states that: “I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating”, this points out the cruelty that the Africans suffered because of the way Europeans viewed them. Mary Prince also gives another example of the way Europeans viewed their slaves when she states: “There were two little slave boys in the house, on whom she vented her bad temper in a special manner.” Views of inferiority in both African and European cultures drove slavery but they differed greatly in treatment.
Olaudah Equiano and Mary Prince are both give good first-hand examples of how slavery was in the 19th century. Slavery is repugnant and it proponents no matter how well they treat their slaves are part of the problem. There is no decent justification for slavery and the term inferiority does not follow up well in this topic. There is no decency in treating a slave well if you still consider him your property for in Olaudah’s case it led to an illusion that freedom was at a grasp. Bear in mind that slavery was and still is a problem we face and that these people had the chance to write about