Olouadah Equiano Essay Example For Students

Olouadah Equiano Essay Keith Sandiford, author of Measuring the Moment, eloquently made the claim for Equiano’s Interesting Narrative as a reliable documentary source. Sandiford writes, â€Å"Throughout the narrative, Equiano makes a conscious effort to delineate the principal incidents and experiences of his life as faithful memory would allow and to appraise his conduct with honest judgement and sober reflection† (119). To me this is how Equiano embarks on making his narrative credible:I believe it is difficult for those who publish their own memoirs to escape the imputation of vanity. . . People generally think those memoirs only worthy to be read or remembered which abound in great striking events, those, in short, which in a high degree excite either admiration or pity; all others they consign to contempt or oblivion. It is therefore, I confess, not a little hazardous in a private and obscure individual, and a stranger too, thus to solicit the indulgent attention of the public, especiall y when I own I offer here the history of neither a saint, a hero, nor a tyrant. I believe there are few events in my life which have not happened to many; it is true the incidents of it are numerous, and, did I consider myself an European, I might say my sufferings were great; but when I compare my lot with that of most of my countrymen, I regard myself as a particular favorite of heaven, and acknowledge the mercies of Providence in every occurrence of my life. If, then, the following narrative does not appear sufficiently interesting to engage general attention, let my motive be some excuse for its publication.The narrative begins in the unassuming, yet ardent voice that carries the reader throughout his life story. He makes his plans entirely clear: he intends his narrative to open the worlds eyes to the degradation and inhumanity of slavery. Yet he knows, too, that merely preaching of goodwill towards Africans would not turn any heads. He must show directly the irony that those n aming others barbarians were the barbaric ones themselves. His intensely personal story, with detailed descriptions of what he saw cruel or ordinary and of how one African dealt with forced encounters with different lands and cultures, was what it would take for Englishmen to relate and thus to understand. A number of themes pervade Equianos narrative. Editor Robert Allison says the text revolves around freedom and salvation. Adam Potkay in Forum: Teaching Equiano’s Interesting Narrative, claims that Equiano’s narrative had a number of persuasive modes, modes such as â€Å"apologia, allegory, sermon, exhortation† and criticism directed to abolishing the slave trade (604). Power and identity struggles are also important problems Equiano faces. Some of the most telling passages involve Equianos discussion of his various names. In his Ibo native land, he was named Olaudah, which signified one favored, and having a loud voice and well spoken. His name was thus symbolic of his strong anti-slavery voice. His name testified to his extraordinary life and also suggests his relative fortune, or perhaps Gods Providence. Luck and grace would play a large role in his life and narrative. Yet in Virginia Equiano was called Jacob and then Michael he no longer had control over his own identity. The passage where he is given the name Gustavus Vassa describes clearly the struggle for self-empowerment versus outside control: While I was on board this ship, my captain and master named me Gustavus Vassa. I at that time began to understand him a little, and refused to be called so, and told him as well as I could that I would be called Jacob; but he said I should not, and still called me Gustavus: and when I refused to answer to my new name, which I at first did, it gained me many a cuff; so at length I submitted, and by which I have been known ever since. (61)That Equiano would later accept this name he once objected to so strongly furthers the question of identity which Equiano, and all displaced Africans, were forced to face. Equiano, at one point, considered himself more Englishman than African, yet he later realized the obligation he owed to his native people. But he nevertheless would struggle with dual identities his entire life: African yet Englishman, sla ve yet friend to his masters, freed man yet not protected by the laws. His double name was an outward indication of his life ambiguity. The narratives first paragraph reveals Equianos intense motives for writing. Yet the work is interesting in that it appeals to not only moral (though they reign supreme) but also economic reasons for the abolishment of slavery. In Talking Too Much English, Tanya Caldwell argues, â€Å"Equiano, far from establishing himself and black Africans against Britain as a potental ‘new force’, Equiano sees the danger of being perceived in this way and reveals the thouroughly European nature of his mind most convincingly when he proposes strengthening the system of which he is part by offering up Africa to forces of British trade† (268 and 280). Sure, the degradation of a people was unchristian, but Equiano advised that it was uneconomical as well. Africa could be an enormous market to feed the industrial revolution. And, by changing your c onduct, and treating your slaves as men, every cause of fear would be banished. They would be faithful, honest, intelligent, and vigorous; and peace, prosperity, and happiness would attend you. (100). In other words, freed men would be better workers. Equiano attacks not only slavery but also racism. Todays reader, living in a world where the ambiguous parameters of race create so many rules, may find his thoughts on race relations a bit strange. Equiano believed that intermarriage was the key to ending racism by blurring the distinctions that make race so obvious. It is important to keep in mind that Equianos perspective differs greatly from many other former slaves. Remember that he was a young boy when taken from his family; his few memories are supplemented in the text by Abolitionist Anthony Benezets account of African traditions and customs. Equiano, too, admired and coveted British culture and society. Intermarriage was an easy solution for him, for he never had the opportunity to forge one strong identity. For both Englishmen and Africans, however, this solution was not quite so clear-cut. Child Abuse EssayB, Miriama. So Long a Letter. Translated by Modupe Bod ; Thomas. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1980. Caldwell, Tanya. â€Å"Talking Too Much English’: Languages of Economics and Politics in Equiano’s The Interesting Narrative,† Early American Literature. Volume 34 3 (1999). Chain, Mybe B. Contemporary Society and the Female Imagination: A Study of the Novels of Miriama Ba, in Eldred Durosimi Jones, Eustace Palmer and MarjorieJones, (Eds.) Women in African Literature Today. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1987. Davies, Carol Boyce. Motherhood in the Works of Male and Female Igbo Writers: Achebe Emecheta, Nwpa and Nzekwu, in Carole Boyce Davies and Anne Adams Graves(Eds.) Ngambika. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1986. Makward, Edris. Marriage, Tradition, and Womans pursuit of Happiness in the Novels of Miriama Ba, in Eldred Durosimi Jones, Eustace Palmer and Marjorie Jones, (Eds.) Women in African Literature Today. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press, 1987. Potkay, Adam. â€Å"Forum:Teaching Equiano’s Interesting Narrative† Eighteenth-Century Studies. Volume 34 4 (2001). Sandiford, Keith. Measuring the Moment: Strategies of Protest in Eighteenth Century Afro-English Writing. PA: Susquehanna University Press, 1988.