Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano references religion in the first chapter of his book where he speaks of his African tribe believing in one creator who governs events, especially death or captivity and then in chapter 2 of his book where he speaks of African brothers being separated when sold and crying out at parting, “O, ye nominal Christians! Might not an African ask you, learned you this from your God, who says unto you, Do unto all men as you would men should do unto you?” 1 During his young life, Olaudah witnessed more abuse and cruelty than he himself personally experienced because most of the people he encountered took a liking to him and treated him with kindness, but still this led him to wonder if these Europeans were some sort of evil…

memoir is proven to contain misleading material, such as place of birth as witnessed with Olaudah Equiano’s memoir, the overall legitimacy or validity of…

written by a former slave, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African,” Olaudah Equiano examines the beginning of his life before, during, and after his enslavement. Published in 1789, the narrative serves as an explicit examination of 18th century slave trade from Equiano’s point of view, detailing his experiences. Born in Eboe in a farming village in what is now Nigeria, Equiano recounts his peaceful and quiet life in Africa, although Equiano…

Dr. Alvis Dunn introduced the lecture with an overview emphasizing the importance of inequality and the humanity of slaves in various countries. During the Atlantic Revolutions, many African Americans were kidnapped or captured; “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” written by Equiano recreates the experiences he faced similarly to a soliloquy. However, what was interesting in his perspective, the author talks about the adversity he faced, but he was willing to forgive the…

Olaudah Equinao was born in 1745 in Guinea, where most slaves African slaves were taken. He begins his story by describing where it is he came from. He goes into great detail about his homelands culture, discussing the women, the men, the children, including the slaves. He tells us that his father is a well respected elder who set policies for the area. Slavery was not uncommon in Africa, however, the idea of white men was. When the europeans, mainly the British founded the African Slave Trade,…

the Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah depicts slave trade in the 1700’s for what it really was. In the narrative, he speaks on kidnappers, the brutal treatments and hardships slaves had to endure, and even being free was still an extremely worrisome life to live. The narrative is questionable because some things just don 't add up but is accurate for the most part. It did help in fact, abolish slavery because it was one of the first slave narratives. It does not “skip”…

Although Olaudah Equiano & Harriet Jacobs are both respected slave narrators there were profoundly diverse according to their gender and position. Equiano's story is very emotional, the physical pain and torture that he went through can't compare with the sexual abuse that Jacobs had to endure for years. Harriet Jacobs and Olaudah Equiano were both African Americans that were introduced into slavery at some point in their life. Jacobs believed that she lived an easy life for the time being,…

Dr. Natalie King-Predoso “Working Title” In the autobiography, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus, the African,” Olaudah Equiano tell his chilling story of how he was kidnapped, enslaved and eventually earned his way to becoming a free black man. From the very beginning of the narrative, Equiano struggles with his personal identity and who he really is. The first hint of his struggle of his identity is in the title of his biography stating both his African…

In the first chapter of The Interesting Narrative, Olaudah Equiano speaks of the similarities between his culture and the culture of the Jews. He speaks about the matching traditions they share: “circumcision...sacrifices and burnt-offerings” etc. (44). Equiano shows African people resembling people with dissimilar religions and color to strongly argue against slavery. On page forty-five, he fights against the ignorance of Spaniards defining a person as a slave by their “complexion” (45).…

Olaudah Equiano was born in 1745 in an area of Africa which is now Nigeria.At the age of eleven he was captured and brought into slavery. He was forced like many other African Americans during the 17th and 18th century. By reading about his biography in the textbook I learned how the Slave Trade affected the lives of many Africans who were enslaved like Equiano. I believe that without the Atlantic Slave Trade the United States would not be the great country it is today because the U.S. needed…