The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano exact origins are not accurately known however he was a very prominent figure in England speaking against and trying to abolish slavery. The first historically accurate location of Equiano in America was in Virginia where he was purchased by Henry Pascal an officer of the British Navy (). Pascal renamed him Gustav Vasa (). Under Pascal Equiano traveled to places like London, England. While in London England Pascal placed Equiano into the service of the army during the Seven…

North America. Olaudah Equiano was one of these slaves. Equiano was kidnapped from West Africa and sold to British slave traders when he was eleven. Olaudah Equiano in his narrative The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano was treated atrociously having to live in bad living conditions, deal with starvation, and were be treated like animals. Equiano was treated horrifically having to live in very unhealthy living conditions in his story The Interesting Narrative…

But despite the obstacles and horrors a slave faced in life there where many great men and women who rose to greatness and became a strong literary role model for anyone in the world today. Two of these amazing writers are Frederick Douglass and Oludah Equiano. Let me start of by introducing you to these great men. Olaudah Equiano, was an African American slave who wrote an autobiography “The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano”. He was…

The excerpt from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, by Olaudah Equiano, touches upon the treatment and lives of slaves in the West Indies. Through this short excerpt the reader learns about what he saw while he was a slave in the West Indies islands. Not only are there very few primary sources that have survived from the eighteenth century to modern day, but also there are hardly any sources that come from the viewpoint of a well-educated, free slave. When reading this…

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 born name and his slave given name. Because Equiano…

pre-affiliations, or at least a memory where they came from also influenced what how they wrote. From Indian captivity narratives such as, A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson, slave narratives such as, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano and a very short autobiography A Short Narrative of My Life by Samson Occom, these three readings helped shaped a better view of the culture of early America. Captivity…

Slave Narrative is a genre of literature that was either written by slaves themselves, or described by them to someone else who wrote their accounts for them. These narratives described the mental, psychological, emotional, and psychical mistreatment as a slave. In 1789, Olaudah Equiano published an autobiography titled “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African”. Equiano’s narrative describes his life as a slave, his travels, and ultimately his…

Throughout the long journey, slaves were held under deck, where it was extremely crowded. Of course since the area was small but held a lot of passengers, the heat in their living quarters was terrible. In his story, “The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano” Olaudah Equiano explains, “The closeness of the place, and the heat of the climate, added to the number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost suffocated us.” Obviously, the…

Equiano in this quote is expressing a lot of anger towards the law of slavery. He feels as though this inhumane act is dehumanizing the people who are supporting it. He states “such a tendency has the slave trade to debauch men’s minds, and harden them to every feeling of humanity!” Equanio comes off as though he’s never seen such an extent of cruelty to whip and lash on another for no particular reason. Demoralizing their very being. What’s expressed in this quote in my opinion is that Equiano…

and political persecution. African Americans were be slaves and treated poorly during the Middle Passage. In the texts, “The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano” by Olaudah Equiano and “On Plymouth Plantation” by William Bradford detail how our early ancestors’ struggles and perseverance shaped Early America. In William Bradford’s essay, he details how life threatening his voyage to the new world was. Bradford describes his voyage as being dangerous with fierce winds and seas…