The Interesting Life Of Olaudah Equiano

Being free is better than being enslaved, right? Freedom is the ultimate goal many, who are enslaved, want to obtain. At least that’s what some think who really are not enslaved and do not see the day-to-day struggle they face. There is nothing like having the independence to say and do as one pleases. Often time’s free blacks did not have that freedom and many narratives show just that. The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano is an optimistic narrative because Equiano sheds light on the treatment that blacks received from whites. He shows this treatment with white individuals mainly from his friend, Jack, on board the ship. Although he sheds light on the treatment he received, he also brings some darkness in a sense of the treatment of free …show more content…
There was one encounter that Equiano ran into while he was in Savannah Georgia. One of the slaves that belonged to Mr. Read came near the vessel and then struck Equiano. This then caused a fight to occur between Equiano and the slave. Mr. Read was upset about the situation and decided to seek out Equiano. He states in the narrative “The next morning his master came to our vessel…desired him to come ashore that he might have me slogged all round the town, for beating his negro slave” (22). Equiano was shocked that his status was not respected because he is a free man, but he did not get the respect he deserved as such. Even though the slave confronts him first and Equiano tries his best not to retaliate, he was still seen as the wrong one in the situation. Equiano felt a sense of being a free black and being a slave as equal. However, his status as a free black man gave him little control over a situation with a …show more content…
Having to constantly worry about being sent back into slavery even with physical evidence of freedom, that does not help, is stressful and disconcerting. Free blacks have to live in fear just as much as slaves did. Free blacks are no longer property of anyone they are on their own. They are property of themselves and should be able to go as they please without being distressed. One would think that there would be some sort of law or courts that protects them, but there was no law to keep them safe or courts to hear them out on the matter. Blacks were not able to participate in the judicial process: “for such is the equity of the West Indian laws, that no free negro 's evidence will be admitted in their courts of justice” (250). This then backs up the thought that blacks really had no say so when it came down to their rights as a free black or as a