ipl-logo

Summary Of The Interesting Narrative Of Life Olaudah Equiano

435 Words2 Pages

The story that impact me the most is “The Interesting Narrative of the Life Olaudah Equiano.” Equiano was 11 years old when he was kidnapped and sold into slavery. He wrote about life on the ship. Equiano was so confused with his surroundings. The cruelty and suffering he went through and everything he had to see at the age of 11 is really heart breaking. The most shocking thing is that even though going through what he went through, he himself once had slaves of his own. This is was the story of Equiano impacted me the most. One of the descriptive details that Equiano gives is when he arrives at the ship and sees people's faces and that they are chained together, “and saw a large furnace of copper boiling and a multitude of black people of every description chained together.” Equiano is already terrified that he was kidnapped and separated from his sister. Now seeing that the people that are on the ship look like him are being treated badly, might have made him even more terrified. Equiano is a very descriptive writer that you could actually imagine what's going on. One example is, “ lest we should leap into the water; and I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut, for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating.” …show more content…

An example where he shows his feeling is,”I saw myself deprived of all chance of returning to my native country.” How awful would it be that deep down in your heart, you knew that you were never going to return to your family. Another example that shows his feelings is,” Among any people such instances of brutality and cruelty and this not only shown towards us blacks but also to some of the whites themselves.” experiencing such cruelty at such a young age, really makes you lose faith in

Show More
Related
136 Words | 1 Pages

Olaudah Equiano begins his journal entry by describing the ocean and the slave ship, which were the first things he saw when he was taken onto the slave ship. He was fascinated by them, but he soon realized that it was going to be a horrific journey. Equiano’s first thought was that they were going to kill him, for they had a different skin tone, bore long hair, and spoke a different language. The crew beat Olaudah when he refused to eat. The conditions under the deck where Equiano lived were dreadful: people were packed together so tightly that they were fighting for breathing room.

Read More
204 Words | 1 Pages

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).

Read More
389 Words | 2 Pages

Thus, we can see how each story of the captives help reveal the different feelings one might have while being held and dehumanized like Equiano and Rowlandson were. This is important because both rowlandson and Equiano were subject to torture, humiliation, and slavery. So, how would you react if you had someone you loved being subject to all these horrible, abusive

Read More
591 Words | 3 Pages

The mental health of the slaves, which was so evidently tarnished, was completely disregarded by these people. Riggs’ detail of each slave’s face shows the anguish and torture that each one is going through. The reader could also imagine this through the imagery that is displayed throughout Equiano’s narrative. One example of this is when Equiano described the lower deck of the second ship he was on. He stated that “the shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying, rendered the whole scene of horror almost inconceivable” (697).

Read More
531 Words | 3 Pages

As a freed slave no one cared about them, and they could be taken advantage of or killed with little to no consequences. In chapter 7, Equiano gets into a fight with a slave. At this point, he had been newly freed and did not have a master. When the slave’s master found out about the fight, he demanded that Equiano was to be beaten publicly. Equiano refused to leave the ship and hid because he knew what could happen to free slaves.

Read More
1160 Words | 5 Pages

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 ...

Read More
552 Words | 3 Pages

Many slaves being shipped to America had been betrayed by their own race, kidnapped and sold into slavery. The conditions on the ship were horrendous and each man was chained to an area and given about six feet long by fifteen inches wide. The boats were extremely packed with close corners and no bathroom, and women or children got even less space than the men. Many a times, the crew tried to justify the chaining by stating the it was a form of protection to avoid an uprising. In one of the examples Rediker gave, the slave ship, with Captain Tomba, who was known for brutal beatings including whipping, handing out cruel punishments to scare the other slaves into not acting out.

Read More
527 Words | 3 Pages

These actions truly display how during this time period if you were not in control those that held more power than you would exploit you in any way possible. This excerpt truly displays the evil greed of humans. Although this excerpt does a good job at describing the process it does not give the viewpoint or feelings of the slaves. Olaudah Equiano’s account of the Atlantic crossing gives a good insight into the confusion and horrors faced by the slaves. In his excerpt he describes his complete confusion and fear revolving around what is going to happen to him.

Read More
1405 Words | 6 Pages

Equiano writes how the white men would throw the dead over board as if they were basically trash, slaves were beaten severely if they refused to eat or tried to escape. These severe acts of punishment

Read More
363 Words | 2 Pages

This work highlighted the horrors of how enslaved people were treated, opening up many eyes to the reality of this situation, showing what was possible, and inspired countless amounts of people. He toured throughout Europe, telling these same stories, and continued to write for an

Read More
360 Words | 2 Pages

Contact for Africans that were a part of the slave trade was an almost entirely negative experience. Africans view of their captors were heavily negative due to their poor treatment. The experiences of Olaudah Equiano give us a unique window into the lives of African slaves during the period of first European contact. Equiano received detestable treatment, and his autobiographical writings demonstrate firsthand just how poorly freshly enslaved Africans were treated. It’s particularly telling that one of the first lines he writes is “I was now persuaded that I had gotten into a world of bad spirits, and that they were going to kill me.

Read More
1515 Words | 7 Pages

Such stories were regularly utilized as promulgation or propaganda: accordingly, Europeans frequently stereotyped Native Americans as merciless and whites started to see subjugation of African-Americans as detestable. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the two narratives which are A Narrative of the Captivity and The interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equianoa. A Narrative of Captivity by Mary Rowlandson and The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano by Olaudah Equiano are two generally read imprisonment accounts , which, individually, relate the encounters of a grown-up white lady caught by Indians and an eleven-year-old Black male caught for the American slave market. Looking at these two accounts uncovers fascinating similitudes and contrasts and in addition in the encounters and responses of these two prisoners.

Read More
588 Words | 3 Pages

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.

Read More
1085 Words | 5 Pages

Douglass manages to provide a closer look into the ways people responded to the evils of servitude. The stories of all the abuse that Douglass saw and endured shows those who follow just how enslavement can affect those involved. With the book written from Douglass’s perspective, the reader can easily feel what it was like to be dehumanized and stripped of your dignity. The graphic components of his writing have us living it with him. His words paint a moving picture in our minds, helping us visualize it as if it is a movie.

Read More
680 Words | 3 Pages

Frank Bruni’s “Today’s Exhausted Superkids” is his own response to the book “Overloaded and Underprepared.” Bruni discusses the part of the book that got to him the most was a part about sleep. Bruni talks about the fact that in today’s society, kids are “so hyped up and stressed out that they’re only getting a fraction of the rest they need.” Afterwards, Bruni mentions that when he was a teenager, kids did have problems with sleep, they were getting too much of it. Often sleeping through their classes.

Read More

More about Summary Of The Interesting Narrative Of Life Olaudah Equiano

Related Topics

Open Document