why is equiano's narrative important

Rediker, Marcus. Luebering is Vice President, Editorial at Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2021, May 24). Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1986. However, the fact that some of these aspects might have been untrue for Equiano does not mean that these elements have been false for every slave. In his narrative, Equiano detailed his experiences as a slave, both in Africa and in the Americas, and also spoke out against the slave trade. It is possible, then, that Equiano is misrepresenting his place of birth, perhaps because he believed that his story would be more compelling if he were able to describe himself as a native-born African. Posted on December 6, 2016 by brendan_hufnagel. If they are accurate, he must have invented his African birth, and thus his much-quoted account of the Middle Passage on a slave ship. However, the fact that slavery once separated families, tribes, and populations should have been enough for people to believe in the cruelty of slavery. This medallion was designed to be the emblem of the Society for Effecting the Abolition of the Slave Trade. The publication of the Interesting Narrative was an important event in its own right. Good Names: Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa. The Eighteenth Century, vol. He remained there briefly before he was purchased by Michael Henry Pascal, a lieutenant in the British Royal Navy. Therefore, he chose to craft a narrative that followed the lives of many slaves that Equiano possibly met throughout the course of his life. Recent biographical discoveries cast doubt on Equianos story of his birth and early years. Moreover, the impact of these writings and his narrative spread to the sphere of world literature as . Does the subsequent narrative support Equiano's claim to have been compensated? Equiano switches the stereotypical terms of civilized and savage by calling an African tribe more civilized than English culture. Baptismal and naval records say that he was born in South Carolina sometime between 1745 and 1747. Why are Olaudah Equiano writings important? However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. Bury the Chains: Prophets and Rebels in the Fight to Free an Empires Slaves. [7] Equiano, The Interesting Narrative, 58. Hochschild, Adam. Pascal renamed him Gustavus Vassa, which remained his legal name for the rest of his life. His book was widely read and helped to promote a more positive view of black people among white Europeans. Persecution in the Early Church: Did You Know? In every discipline, you study Equiano. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. He was born into a local tribe and described the area he grew up in as a "nation of dancers, musicians and poets.". About a century before, British colonies had ruled that baptism had no bearing on the status of an enslaved African. Historians begin with Equiano. Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Olaudah Equiano's The Life of Olaudah Equiano. https://ivypanda.com/essays/equianos-influence-and-narrative/, IvyPanda. The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional". 1. The servants of the Miss Guerins spoke to him which persuaded him, their servants told me I could not go to heaven, unless I was baptized.[1] Once baptized, Equianos entire perception of life began to revolutionize within his thoughts on his self and others; I began to raise my fear from man to him alone, and to call daily on his holy name with fear and reverence.[2] Later as a freeman, Equiano is sailing for his former master Mr. King in order to repay him for his benevolence in freeing him when his ship wrecks on a rock by the Bahama Banks due to the negligence of a new captain. Early in his time as an enslaved boy on a ship, Equiano became obsessed with learning how to read after he saw English people onboard poring over books. If you are the copyright owner of this paper and no longer wish to have your work published on IvyPanda. Often did I think many of the inhabitants of the deep much more happy than myself. It went through nine editions in his lifetime and helped gain passage of the British Slave Trade Act 1807, which abolished the slave trade. You'll be able to access your notes and highlights, make requests, and get updates on new titles. [13] Without his exposure to Christianity early into his service with his first master, Equiano would not be the man we now know him as today; faithful, honest, reputable, and a man with an important story to tell. They had several children, but only one survived into adulthood. The authoritative account of Equianos life, art, and times, incorporating significant new primary sources. The Interesting Narrative was first printed in the United States in New York in 1791 (without Equianos permission, as was typical for books reprinted from Britain in the early decades of the new republic), and was widely reprinted throughout the first half of the nineteenth century. Olaudah Equiano is most commonly remembered for his autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, which was published in 1789. Social . The word of God was sweet to my taste, yea sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. Although free, Equiano himself was nearly beat to death after visiting a local physicians slave. Pascal shocked Equiano at the end of the war in 1762 when he refused to grant him his freedom, instead selling him into the horrors of West Indian slavery. Who wrote the music and lyrics for Kinky Boots? What no one has ever questioned is that Equianos Interesting Narrative is extremely accurate in its depiction of the way that the eighteenth-century slave system worked, the horrors of the middle passage, and the constant threats to their freedom and well-being experienced by free people of color, particularly in the American colonies. As a child, he should have traveled the Middle Passage on deck, unfettered with the slave women and children. He briefly was commissary to Sierra Leone for the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor; he was replaced after he expressed his concerns for settlerssome 500 to 600 formerly enslaved peopleand how they were poorly treated before their journey to Sierra Leone. Equiano confronted his action, asking Drummond how he would answer to God, and how did that accord with the Golden Rule. That license does not apply to third-party material. Olaudah Equiano's autobiography, The interesting life of Olaudah Equiano, is a complex, historical piece of literature that enables the reader to see Equiano's own personal experiences.Apart from being a historical piece of literature, Equiano's narrative serves as a spiritual autobiography illustrating his conversions to Christianity. Analysis. Equianos major struggles against the oppression of his liberty because of his race gave cause for which name he chose to commonly go by, Gustavus Vassa, and his acceptance of a new culture intermingled with his home nations culture. He was a man who managed to overcome tremendous odds to achieve success and make a difference in the world. What was the purpose of the naturalist movement in literature? Equianos book is both a personal story and a powerful piece of testimony about the larger system of slave-trading that supported the economic system through which Britain developed a global empire. His travels enabled him to observe and comment on the many types of involuntary servitude known during the 18th century. The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. J.E. Theme: Newsup by Themeansar. His research interests are in African history and the history of Africans in the Atlantic World. Why Did So Many Christians Support Slavery? Jaros, Peter. These parallels helped to merge his identity as an African ex-slave into that of his European identity of Gustavus Vassa. The fact that Equianos life may be seen as a template for a slave narrative is not accidental. The story of Equiano, while possibly untrue in this case, might have been a reality for someone else. Subscribers receive full access to the archives. Find related themes, quotes, symbols, characters, and more. must. My students love how organized the handouts are and enjoy tracking the themes as a class., Requesting a new guide requires a free LitCharts account. Teach your students to analyze literature like LitCharts does. Andrews, William L. Retrieved from https://ivypanda.com/essays/equianos-influence-and-narrative/. Carretta 2005 is the authoritative study. Historians begin with Equiano. The fact that Equiano was owned largely by benevolent men assures him of God's presence. Corrections? Equiano used his experiences of slavery to campaign and persuade others to abolish the inhumane trade in African people. His desperation and devastation as described here are also meant to explain the actions of slaves more broadly, whether they deal with enslavement through resignation or, conversely, by attempting to run away or to rebel. According to his own account, Equiano was captured in his Igbo village at age 11, sold into slavery, and taken to the West Indies. Equiano died in London in 1797, but the location of his grave is no longer known. Oxford Bibliographies Online is available by subscription and perpetual access to institutions. More capacious than its subtitle suggests, one of the first, and still one of the most discerning, attempts to place Equianos autobiography in the context of narratives by and about enslaved people of African descent. Equiano exposes once again the contradictions between the moral beliefs that Europeans purport to hold and their treatment of slaves. Whether the love of ones country be real or imaginary, or a lesson of reason, or an instinct of nature, I still look back with pleasure on the first scenes of my life, though the pleasure has been for the most part mingled with sorrow, he wrote. IvyPanda, 24 May 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/equianos-influence-and-narrative/. Equiano makes the plight of slavery more vivid and relatable to his readers by talking about slaves not as property (like the slave traders do), but as human beings subject to exhaustion and able to be creative and strategic within the bounds of their dire circumstances. -Graham S. For the nearly 300 years that preceded Olaudah Equianos writing of his life, the international slave trade had shrunk the world like never before: globalization could already describe this interconnected relationship between humans, goods, and places. His famous autobiography can be considered to be one of the causes of the success of a British movement that wanted to end the slave trade. [11] Equiano, The Interesting Narrative, 165. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Equiano was born in an African village and kidnapped into slavery at the age of eleven. The standard history of people of African descent in Britain. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. The depiction of these events may be considered crucial to the process of people beginning to understand the cruelty of this concept. . Spanning the transatlantic world, Equianos story powerfully captures the lived experience of slavery in the eighteenth century through the eyes of an observer with almost unbelievable resourcefulness and resilience. Copyright information regarding third party material is noted in context wherever possible. Within this framework, European powersfirst the Portuguese and Spanish, and later the British, French, Dutch, and othersvied to discover lands abroad, but of course these lands were largely already inhabited. Later in life, Equiano married a white woman, Susannah Cullen. Get the best from CT editors, delivered straight to your inbox! In 1792 Equiano married an Englishwoman, Susanna Cullen, with whom he had two daughters. At one point, in the start of his career as a freeman, he is applied to as a parson for a funeral for a young black child,[10] later learning the French horn,[11] and then also becoming trained in hairdressing. IvyPanda. Through the cultural worldview he had learned as a child, Equiano found God at work in his life when he been enslaved and when he had been rescued from near-death experiences. While almost all of Equianos narrative has been independently corroborated, scholars have, for several decades, debated whether or not he was actually born in Africa. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The crisis of Equianos self identity is primarily due to his struggle with Christianity but his interactions among Europeans and slaves in his travels play an important role as well. It went through a number of printings and was even translated into other languages. The work was influential in the abolitionist movement in both the United Kingdom and the United States. It does not store any personal data. The discovery and evaluation of Olaudah Equianos faith in Christianity, during his time as a slave and into his time as a freeman, creates a picture for those who have read into his narrative of a constant battle between cultures and the development of a unique experience of gaining his freedom and fighting for it against all odds. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Or Gustavus Vassa, The African, first published in 1789 in London, is the autobiography of Olaudah Equiano.The narrative is argued to represent a variety of styles, such as a slavery narrative, travel narrative, and spiritual narrative. Equiano travelled widely to promote the book, and became wealthy from its royalties. Therefore, even if the story of Equiano is untrue in some parts, the overall verisimilitude of the narrative should not be affected.

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