Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Narrative of the Life

Michael Fong
ENG 48A
Journal #13 Olaudah Equiano
November 3, 2009


"They gave me to understand we were to be carried to these white people's country to work for them. I then was a little revived, and thought, if it were no worse than working, my situation was not so desperate; but still I feared I should be put to death, the white people looked and acted, as I thought, in so savage a manner; for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty; and this not only shown towards us blacks, but also to some of the whites themselves. One white man in particular I saw, when we were permitted to be on deck, flogged so unmercifully with a large rope near the foremast, that he died in consequence of it; and they tossed him over the side as they would have done a brute." (Equiano 684)





"But even though it is replete with textual enigmas, Equiano's autobiography cannot conceivably be marginalized within the canon of slave narratives." (Ide Corley - The Subject of Abolitionist Rhetoric)



At this point, Equiano is on board of the slave ship, and had been contemplating a possible escape by jumping over the side into the water. Upon knowing that he was going to be sent to work for the white people, Equiano at first appears relieved, but then is worried about the savagery and brutality that his future potential white masters displayed.


We have so far read sufficient slave narratives and documents to at least grasp, if not understand, the appalling and deformed nature of slavery. How incredibly pathetic it is for the white people to not see the actions in which they were committing as outright savagery, but instead accuse the colored peopleas being animals? Such contrast is exceedingly ironic indeed.




I remember seeing an artistic portrayal of the moment when the British first embarked upon the soils of the New World. A naked woman is seen lying on a hammock, while a man in the attire of a soldier approaches. The New World is portrayed as a woman, helpless and seductive. In the history of mankind, the constant occurrence of one race/country raping and ravishing another is seen so often that one cannot but wonder if this is the nature of humanity. Equiano captures perfectly the feeling and emotion of deception that the Africans felt when being sold as slaves, and for this reason, I disagree with the notion that his Narrative of the Life as not being within the canon of slave narratives. The primary factor of slave narratives, for me personally, is always to put one in the shoes of the narrator and feel the emotions. It is a document of both the spiritual as well as physical hardships in which the system slavery imposes upon slaves. Is it that crucial whether Equiano fabricated his origins of birth or not? Is it really a key part in determining whether this is a slave narrative or mere fictional fantasy? I think not.

1 comment:

  1. 20 points. "Equiano captures perfectly the feeling and emotion of deception that the Africans felt when being sold as slaves, and for this reason, I disagree with the notion that his Narrative of the Life as not being within the canon of slave narratives. The primary factor of slave narratives, for me personally, is always to put one in the shoes of the narrator and feel the emotions." I agree. Canons are always such crap anyhow.

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