Slavery In Olaudah Equiano's Oroonoko, The Royal

For many centuries, slavery was one of the common, yet cruel, practices that among many nations. Because of the many individuals who have suffered the adversities from enslavement, people developed numerous different views towards slavery. In the Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African”, Equiano focuses on his own past experiences as a slave that led to his political motivation to end slavery. At a young age, Equiano, along with his sister, was kidnapped into slavery from their homes as “two men and a woman got over our walls, and in a moment seized us both, and without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance” (87). This displays the terrifying transition into the enslavement of Equiano and numerous other African victims. Equiano was forced to separate from his parents and later, his sister, who went to a different path in …show more content…
Instead, she did make the readers aware of the harsh reality of enslavement as many Africans were forced to face the whites’ superiority and privileges over them. Behn informs her audience the short story of an African prince named Oroonoko who, along with his lover Imoinda, became another victim of slavery. Even though he had a better treatment due to his royal status and his knowledge, he lacked independence since he was still the property of his white master and was not allowed to leave on his own will. Eventually, Imoinda’s pregnancy provoked Oroonoko to increasingly sought for freedom and human rights as “Imoinda began to shew she was with child, and did nothing but sigh and weep for the captivity of her lord, her self, and the infant yet unborn” (235). It became more clear of the distresses in slavery for the mothers and their children. Like many other slaves with infants, Oroonoko definitely did not want his baby born oppressed by the