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Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano

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According to Heather Andrea Williams, an associate professor of history at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, “Access to the written word, whether scriptural or political, revealed a world beyond bondage in which African Americans could imagine themselves free to think and behave as they chose” (8). This quote reflects on a classic topic utilized within captivity narratives. A captivity narrative is a variation of narrative that addresses the life of a person held in captivity who manages to find his or her way to liberation. The captivity narratives I have selected to review and compare are those of: The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass which was published in 1845, and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, written by Himself released in 1789. …show more content…

Whereas The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, written by Himself is the tale of an African slave, captured at an early age by British slavers. Equiano like Frederick Douglass had to undergo and suffer discrimination and racial stereotyping. Both of these stories show how a person can find ways to cope against overwhelming odds. They present the idea that an individual can rise above seeming adverse situations. In the cases of Frederick Douglass and Olaudah Equiano, they use education to escape hardships and progress to brighter

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