Olaudah Equiano's Narrative Analysis

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Olaudah Equiano published his narrative, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, in 1789. Equiano was born in 1745 in the district of Eboe, Africa. His autobiography informs readers of his life during the slave trade. The Slave Trade was a harsh business during the 15th to the 19th centuries. Incidentally, this eighteenth century narrative is about a boy who was kidnapped at the age of eleven and sold into slavery. Equiano was one of many who had sailed through the Middle Passage to the New World. In the narrative, Olaudah Equiano, Equiano is portrayed as an hopeful man who struggled with his identity while in pursuit of his freedom.
Since Equiano wrote his narrative at a latter time in his life, readers must remember that Equiano is telling this from a different age. The setting of this narrative begins with Equiano at age eleven, around 1756,
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As Equiano and his sister are kidnapped, they are taken away from their family, and they both were sold separately to different slave owners. However, Equiano always stayed hopeful in finding his sister one day. Even when Captain Pascal denied Equiano’s freedom, his hope for independence was still strong. Throughout Equiano’s life, he was introduced to God and found hope and faith in him. At one point, Equiano discussed the African God, the “Creator”, and compared him to Christianity. In addition, Equiano is shown as a innocent young boy when he was first taken into slavery. For instance, Equiano described the white people as, “these people were full of nothing but magical arts” (42). When he first encountered snow, he thought it was salt. Furthermore, when he witnessed a vessel stop in the water, he was amazed and thought, “it was done by magic” (41). In short, Equiano innocent nature helps his hope grow stronger and lets readers understand what it is like going to an unknown

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