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Olaudah Equiano Rhetorical Devices

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Olaudah Equiano was one of the most famous black men in the history of slavery who was lucky enough to purchase his freedom by himself. Equiano was highly popular for his autobiography named The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African. This is an interesting autobiographywhich was published in 1789 and it emphasized various aspects of slavery throughout the entire book. In The Interesting Narrative, Olaudah Equiano uses poetic diction and tone ( sadistic) to illustrate his perspective as a slave by portraying the cruality and brutality of slavery.

Equiano was very disappointed with his master’s betrayal. Even after taking all of his wages his master Pascal betrayed him and sold him to someone else.
He had expected to get freedom, but instead he was forced in further slavery. At that point, he was totally clueless about his life and felt absolutely broken and devastated by the situation. He could not believe that he did not get his freedom after urging for it for so long. He expressed his grief as well as cursed his fate. Equiano used a famous poem
The Dying Negro to give insight of his feelings for his readers. …show more content…

In addition, by reading this poem the readers can imagine the pain and suffocation Equiano was going through as a slave. Therefore, the author equiano purposely choose to add this poem because he felt connected with the former slave who wrote that poem. He also had similar thought to give up his life like the author in the poet however he had no other option instead to deal with this. Furthermore, he started cursing his fate and crying bitterly. The following quote will give the audience another close insight of his feelings when his trust and his dreams were

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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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Equiano questions the slave owners with rhetorical questions so they think about what they are doing to slaves. He is also asking for equal rights that are eventually reached so an African American can be a

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This was the corruption of the white men of that time who were afraid of the truth surfacing and everyone finding out the truth about slavery. Equiano was able to share a little detail about how slaves were treated by saying that “[he] was first transported to Barbados and then Virginia, where he was purchased by a local planter,” (512). This action shows the reader that the slaves were treated as a form of property that was sold for labor. Equiano was never given the chance to gain the same freedom as a white man, he had to work for money. He goes on to say "I was now exceedingly miserable, and thought myself worse off than any of the rest of my companions ...

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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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Equiano experienced the worst situation when his sister and him were taken as slaves. He was separated from his sister after being captured, and he never had the chance to see her again after that. As slave he used other names such as Gustavus Vassa which was given by British and American masters. He used that name for his book called “Equiano’s Travels : The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa the African” (Perkins 162). He fought to end slavery after writing his first African-American slave narrative and autobiography.

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While Equiano's narrative shows the terrible conditions that he and his fellow Africans had to endure on the ship, Columbus’s journal has a very different cover. As opposed to Equiano's picture, Columbus’s journal shows he and his crew landing on an island in the Caribbean claiming land for spain triumphantly. This obviously shows two very different objectives in the stories. Emotion can be effected with the words we use as well, in Equiano's narrative there is an

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How Did Equiano Obtain His Freedom

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Throughout the book we see occasions on how Equiano was lucky such as, he was able to buy his freedom, tried to run away and was not punished, and was able to improve his education. Equiano accomplished to gain his freedom which is something that most slaves found impossible to do. One of the reasons Equiano was able to buy his freedom is because of his captain. For example “ I verily believe I should not have obtained my freedom when I did; and it not improbable that I might not have been able to get it any rate afterwards.” (The Interesting Narrative of Oladuah Equiano p.107)

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Olaudah Equiano Rhetorical Analysis

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In Equiano's personal slave narrative, "The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African", Equiano flips the idea that the African people are backwards and barbaric, thus ripe for slavery, by demonstrating his personal exceptionalism through his literacy to show that it is truly the white people who are backwards and barbaric through their own hypocrisy. This reversal that Equiano demonstrates in his slave narrative shows that the savagery of African people exists as a misconception and makes the reader fully grasp the need to abolish slavery and any inequality present. On page seventy-eight, Equiano uses first person pronouns like 'I', 'my', and 'me' to separate himself from the other African people and whites around him. This separation that Equiano creates demonstrates his exceptionalism as an African slave.

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Rowlandson wrote for the spiritual purposes, but Equiano on the other hand wrote to change people’s views on slavery. Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano were humiliated and dealt with fear during this time. While in slavery they adapted to the surroundings and the lifestyle and that way they were able to survive. Rowlandson and Equiano each wrote about slavery and the relation to

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In this situation is it surprising that slaves, when mildly treated, should prefer even the misery of slavery to such a mockery of freedom?” (Equiano O. , 2014). As a reader you would believe that Equiano buying himself out of slavery is awesome, did he would slaves that time was impossible. Equiano release from slavery was the most substantial moment in his story.

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For several months he lived on the Mosquito Coast managing a plantation that relied on slave labor. Equiano did not become an abolitionist until shortly before he wrote his autobiography, a searing indictment of the slave trade and chattel slavery. It played a role in the abolition of the British slave trade (1807) and was the model for future slave narratives. In 1999 historian Vincent Carretta revealed findings that suggest Olaudah Equiano was not born free in Africa as he claimed but enslaved in South Carolina. Even if its passages on Africa and Middle Passage are historical fiction, The Interesting Narrative remains a classic and its author a remarkable man.

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This chapter helps to separate the “savage” from “man”, which is the whole point in Equaino’s fight against slavery; his case that an African man is just as human as a white one. Therefore, the first chapter of Olaudah Equiano’s Interesting Narrative is a good setup for the story and overall message for the interests of humanity. Work cited Equiano, Olaudah. "The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, Written by Himself" The Norton Anthology of American Literature.. Gen. ed. Nina Baym.

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Both stories begin with shocking horrors, although much of Equiano’s narrative was based on these horrific scenes. Equiano’s survival of his involuntary journey to America, being enslaved as a child, and witnessing torture in Virginia, should be of aid towards the disapproval of the brutality of slavery. After buying his own freedom, Equiano became a front-runner in the abolitionist movement representing those who stood against slavery. Now in the 21st century we still fight for the freedom and self-respect we find in Equiano’s narrative. Rowlandson’s and Equiano’s narratives each represent a different characteristic of what it means to be part of the American nation.

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