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Olaudah Equiano Literary Devices

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Today’s society understands the evil entangled with slavery, but America once routinely practiced it. Olaudah Equiano, an enslaved African who lived through the tragic and corrupt acts of the slave trade writes about his struggles in an autobiography. Equiano exposes the turpitude behind the bondage of blacks by employing the power of literary elements. He tells the appalling story of his life with rhetorical devices and persuasive techniques in order to promote a policy of equality and advance a movement of emancipation from slavery. Olaudah Equiano uses imagery, emotional appeal, and persuasive language in “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” to show the reader the theme that society has no place for slavery and the …show more content…

People consider a slave ship in the 1700s one of the scariest and most dangerous places on Earth at the time. Equiano describes the wicked conditions of the transatlantic slave trade and its affects on him and his peers. Equiano writes, “One day, when we had a smooth sea and moderate wind, two of my wearied countrymen who were chained together, preferring death to such a life of misery, somehow made through the nettings and jumped into the sea,” (Equiano 173). In these lines Equiano gives the reader an idea of the horrifying events on the ships including the death of his companions. Portraying this to readers helps them empathize with his experiences through the imagery of his work. Slave ships drain Africans mentally but also physically. Unsanitary and dangerous ships hold hundreds of slaves in the bottom of them making conditions unbearable. Equiano documents these conditions saying, “Many a time we were near suffocation from the want of fresh air, which we were often without for whole days together. This, and the stench of the necessary tubs, carried off many,” (Equiano). Many slaves die from these egregious conditions if they chose not to attempt suicide. Diseases of all kinds and the lack of food plague the slaves and kill many. Equiano relives his trauma in great detail to give the reader an image of the slave ships. He does this to convince people that slavery ultimately must come to an

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Both Mary and Equiano suffered greatly upon their being taken. They both endured mental, physical, and emotional distress at being torn from their families and friends. Equiano was only a child when he was taken from his village, away from everything and everyone he had ever known, so the natural fear of parental separation would be terrifying in itself. Many years later, as he was being shipped overseas, he witnessed the cruel and inhumane treatment of innocent people. In describing the living conditions of the slave ship, Equiano states, “The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole a scene of horror almost inconceivable” (Equiano 1279).

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The appearance of the Atlantic world, especially to the eyes of Equiano, was one that could be described as interesting. We are introduced to a young colored man who has been forced into a new country due to the acts of slavery and is in fear of his life, while in the movie Black Robe, we are introduced to how a Jesuit priest comes to a new land in order to convert the natives of that country. In this essay, readers will be introduced to how a colored person sees a world differently unlike one who comes from such a country such as Europe. On page 91, Equiano starts off by explaining his conditions in his new master 's quarters and how he is shown the graphic details of being a slave, by seeing a woman, who is his own skin color, muzzled

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In The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Olaudah Equiano writes about his experiences as a slave. Beginning with his childhood, he tells of how he was kidnapped and traveled through the Bermuda Triangle, bought by his first white owner, and eventually gained his freedom. Although Equiano still considers himself an African at the end of his text, the text tells a different story about his transformation from an African to a British man. Considered to be a slave narrative by many critics because of its true stories about slavery, there are many issues with Equiano’s argument against slavery: Rather than asking that Britain completely rid of slavery, Equiano actually suggests that they create a new form of slavery which would allow Africans to assimilate to the white men through economic reforms such as paying the Africans for their work and using their land for production.

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