Summary Narrative Of The Life Of Olaudah Equiano

1621 Words7 Pages

Slavery is a really broad topic when discussing anything related to it. Everyone has a different view on it as well as what type of system slavery may be. There are many options such as a system of economy, class structure, power, ect. In the book, “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” it discusses his life and everything he had gone through. It goes from the horror we’ve all heard about on slave ships to Equiano buying his own freedom. This book also shows how different people treated others just because of the color of their skin. It also shows a lot of examples and gives us a better insight about what kind of system slavery was. From my point of view, I see slavery as a combination of systems, mostly power, but also …show more content…

To start off with in simple terms, it was slavery. It was making someone do an insane amount of work for little or no pay which was already inhuman. However, that was not the worst of it. To quote Equiano, “Without giving us time to cry out, or make resistance, they stopped our mouths, and ran off with us into the nearest wood. Here they tied our hands, and continued to carry us as far as they could.” This is a reflection of slavery being a system of power because Equiano and his sister had just been brutally kidnapped. The people who kidnapped them were very aware what they were doing was wrong, but who cared because they had the power over Equiano and his sister who were crying out. Soon after the kidnapping, Equiano faced another horrible event. As stated in the text, “We forgot out misfortunes in the joy of being together; but even this small comfort was soon to have an end; for scarcely had the fatal morning appeared, when she was again torn from me forever! I was now more miserable, if possible, than before.” The people were aware that Equiano and the girl were brother and sister and if they had even a smallest amount of sympathy, they would have let them stay together. Equiano and his sister were obviously scared and the only comfort they had was being together. Besides the psychological power that the people had received by separating Equiano and his sister, what was the point of it? It all comes back to the power that one has over