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Olaudah Equiano Character Analysis Essay

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A Different World Olaudah Equiano, a young man, noticed assailants had climbed over the walls of the neighborhoods premises. Suddenly, the Nigerian child and his sister had been held by the hands, gripped tightly and kidnapped from their beloved home. The tragic scene in The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, a memoir written in 1789, reveals the savagery of African raiders and white countrymen’s contribution the slave trade. A boy’s life drastically changed from being a mama's boy and doing exercises like shooting or throwing javelins to experiencing the horrors of an unsanitary, sorrowful slave ship. The author, Olaudah Equiano, writes about his distinctive experience by expressing himself exposing his observative, vibrant, and emotional self. Abolitionists everywhere should read and share Equiano's narrative because it reveals the horrible realities of the slave trade and shatters stereotypes by presenting a slave who is intelligent and emotional.
The narrative exposes the cruelty and ignorance of the nominal Christians who brutally treated the innocent slaves and managed the slave ship. A cargo filled with African slaves awaited for the young man as he embarked a journey of misery: “ When I looked around the ship...a multitude of black people of every description chained together, every one of their countenances expressing dejection and sorrow(Equiano 58).” They escorted the young boy to …show more content…

However, they hardly know how each slave felt going through the phase of slavery. Both parts should read the memoir because it presents a story that unravels the bitter truth and the sweet sensation of life in the eyes of this young man. Pro-slavery Americans should be ashamed, and Abolitionists should expand their knowledge based on the history of

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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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Equiano had many slave owners and two of them had a great influence in his life. Equiano had a horrible experience that he tried to end his life just to escape from being a slave. As days passed his life seemed to be getting easier. As a child Equiano and his sister where taken far away.

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Equiano found employment with the Sierra Leone resettlement project, which was constructed to provide a safe place for freed slaves to work and live (Smith, 2013). This is where he formed the “Sons of Africa.” This group aimed to campaign for abolition through public speaking, letter writing, and lobbying parliament (Smith, 2013). Olaudah Equiano also led a delegation to the House of Commons to support William Dolben’s bill to improve conditions of slave ships (Smith, 2013). The story of his life was considered to be a powerful argument against slavery (Smith, 2013).

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For example, when he told of his arrival in Virginia when he was the last of his group left at a plantation with no one to talk to and no way to understand those around him. To the British readers, who thrived in their own daily social interactions, the thought of such a lonely situation created feelings of pity and understanding. Equiano thought that he was “worse off than any of the rest” of his companions and “was constantly grieving and pining,” because of his loneliness. The British readers related to his emotional distress and allowed themselves to see him as a person. Therefore, they were more open to his ideas on slavery as a whole, because they could relate to Equiano's

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