The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
Encyclopedia
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789, is the autobiography
of Olaudah Equiano
.
discusses Equiano's time spent in slavery
, serving primarily on galleys, documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible
, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom and in business thereafter.
Chapter 2 Summary
Equiano begins the chapter by explaining how he and his sister were kidnapped. The pair are forced to travel with their captors for a time, when one day the two children are separated. Equiano becomes the slave-companion to the children of a wealthy chieftain. He stays there for about a month, when he runs away after accidentally killing one of his master's chickens. Equiano hides in the shrubbery and woods surrounding his master's village, but after several days without food, steals away into his master's kitchen to eat. Exhausted, Equiano falls asleep in the kitchen and is discovered by another slave who takes Equiano to the master. The master is forgiving and insists that Equiano not be harmed.
Soon after, Equiano is sold to a group of travelers. One day, his sister appears with her master at the house and they share a joyous reunion. However, soon afterward she and her company departs, and Equiano never sees his sister again.
Equiano is eventually sold to a wealthy widow and her young son. Equiano lives almost as an equal among them and is very happy until he is again taken away and forced to travel with "heathens" until they reach the seacoast. Equiano is forced onto a slave ship and spends the next several weeks on the ship under terrible conditions. At last they reach the island of Barbados where Equiano and all the other slaves are separated and sold.
in West Africa
and illustrates how the experience differs from the dehumanizing slavery of the Americas. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is also one of the first widely read slave narratives. It was generally reviewed favorably. It was used as a model for subsequent slave narratives.
The book comprises two chiasmatic
narrative voices: the protagonist's naivety, and the experienced narrator guiding the reader through the tale.
The critic S. E. Ogude argues that the book is littered with borrowing, both from other contemporary African writers such as Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
, and from Daniel Defoe
. Ogude claims that "in many respects Equiano ... is as ignorant of the African continent as Defoe's Captain Singleton
and Robinson Crusoe
" and that "both Defoe and Equiano build their image of Africa on hearsay, pseudo-history and pure fiction".
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
of Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano
Olaudah Equiano also known as Gustavus Vassa, was a prominent African involved in the British movement towards the abolition of the slave trade. His autobiography depicted the horrors of slavery and helped influence British lawmakers to abolish the slave trade through the Slave Trade Act of 1807...
.
Plot introduction
The bookBook
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
discusses Equiano's time spent in slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
, serving primarily on galleys, documents his attempts at becoming an independent man through his study of the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
, and his eventual success in gaining his own freedom and in business thereafter.
Main themes
- The African slave's voyage from AfricaAfricaAfrica is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to the Americas and England. - The journey from slavery to freedom and parallel journey from heathenism to Christianity.
- The slave's journey from orality to literacy.
Chapter 2 Summary
Equiano begins the chapter by explaining how he and his sister were kidnapped. The pair are forced to travel with their captors for a time, when one day the two children are separated. Equiano becomes the slave-companion to the children of a wealthy chieftain. He stays there for about a month, when he runs away after accidentally killing one of his master's chickens. Equiano hides in the shrubbery and woods surrounding his master's village, but after several days without food, steals away into his master's kitchen to eat. Exhausted, Equiano falls asleep in the kitchen and is discovered by another slave who takes Equiano to the master. The master is forgiving and insists that Equiano not be harmed.
Soon after, Equiano is sold to a group of travelers. One day, his sister appears with her master at the house and they share a joyous reunion. However, soon afterward she and her company departs, and Equiano never sees his sister again.
Equiano is eventually sold to a wealthy widow and her young son. Equiano lives almost as an equal among them and is very happy until he is again taken away and forced to travel with "heathens" until they reach the seacoast. Equiano is forced onto a slave ship and spends the next several weeks on the ship under terrible conditions. At last they reach the island of Barbados where Equiano and all the other slaves are separated and sold.
Criticism
The book contains an interesting discussion of slaverySlavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...
and illustrates how the experience differs from the dehumanizing slavery of the Americas. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is also one of the first widely read slave narratives. It was generally reviewed favorably. It was used as a model for subsequent slave narratives.
The book comprises two chiasmatic
Chiasmus
In rhetoric, chiasmus is the figure of speech in which two or more clauses are related to each other through a reversal of structures in order to make a larger point; that is, the clauses display inverted parallelism...
narrative voices: the protagonist's naivety, and the experienced narrator guiding the reader through the tale.
The critic S. E. Ogude argues that the book is littered with borrowing, both from other contemporary African writers such as Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw
Ukawsaw Gronniosaw, also known as James Albert, was a freed slave and autobiographer. His autobiography is considered the first published by an African in Britain.-The autobiography:...
, and from Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe
Daniel Defoe , born Daniel Foe, was an English trader, writer, journalist, and pamphleteer, who gained fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. Defoe is notable for being one of the earliest proponents of the novel, as he helped to popularise the form in Britain and along with others such as Richardson,...
. Ogude claims that "in many respects Equiano ... is as ignorant of the African continent as Defoe's Captain Singleton
Captain Singleton
The Life, Adventures and Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton is a novel by Daniel Defoe. It is believed to have been partly inspired by the exploits of English pirate Henry Every....
and Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe
Robinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
" and that "both Defoe and Equiano build their image of Africa on hearsay, pseudo-history and pure fiction".