Olaudah Equiano Hardships

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Way Back When
“Analysis of the Hardships of the Slave Trade”
Even if you fall on your face, you’re still moving forward (Kiam, Victor). Sometimes it may seem as though you aren’t not moving forward in life, but in actuality you are always moving. Olaudah Equiano describes the trip him and many other slaves took across the ocean. Many of the slaves on the boat were kidnapped. This means that they were not slaves before this (page 171). In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano, he voices many hardships that him and many of the slaves faced on the journey.
In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah address starvation and dehydration. The slaves didn’t get to eat very much, and when they did it was in miniscule quantities. Periodically, the crew would eat in front of the slaves that were on the deck. One day after the crew had satisfied themselves, they the extra fish over the side of the boat and back into the ocean. The slaves begged and begged and prayed for the crew to give them some of the fish (page 173). Some of the slaves got so hungry they tried to steal some the food, they always got caught. Not only did these slaves die of starvation or dehydration, but so did many other slaves in the world (Horton). …show more content…

Several of the slaves fell into a deep depression on the journey to North America. Some slaves didn’t take this very well and jumped overboard. Olaudah envied the freedom those people were brought from jumping overboard (page 173). Others fell into depression because they were chained for most of the journey (page 172). It has been said that a few of them jumped because they were severely sick or they preferred death over a miserable life (Daniels,