Olaudah Equiano Sparknotes

Charles Johnson's use of journal entries in his novel, The Middle Passage, is a powerful literary device that enhances the impact of the story. By incorporating personal accounts and first-hand experiences of characters, Johnson brings a level of authenticity and emotional depth to the novel that would be impossible to achieve through narration alone. Johnson's use of journal entries in The Middle Passage is a key factor in its ability to convey the horrors of the transatlantic slave trade and the impact it had on the lives of those who were forced to endure it. One of the most striking aspects of The Middle Passage is the vividness and detail with which Johnson portrays the experience of being a slave aboard a slave ship.

The autobiography “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” of former slave Olaudah Equiano, is a detailed account of his journey, starting from the time he was kidnapped from his home, separated from his family, and later separated from his sister. He was eventually loaded into a slave ship, which sets sail for Barbados. The story continues through the time he was a slave until the time he bought his own freedom and, subsequently, write the autobiography. To help readers visualize the reality he lived through, Equiano uses in-depth descriptions of the experiences and conditions he endued in his journey. The transatlantic journey taken by Olaudah Equiano in “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano” demonstrate him to be curious, strong-willed, and frightened individual.

In this novel both of these men tell their stories and give us an insight on how their lives were living in slavery. Their narratives go into detail on how they were treated, what they saw, and what their own experiences were trying to escape. Olaudah Equiano

He published an autobiography, The Interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, which recounted his experiences and life as a slave. His autobiography served as one of the first testimonies in the abolition movement (Biography.com). His work began with a petition address to Parliament and ended with an antislavery letter to the Queen (Smith, 2013). Equiano’s book gave his readers a first hand perspective of slavery through the eyes of a former slave. This book made a vital contribution to the abolitionists’ cause and also raised slavery

He describes the anguish, anxiety and despair that surrounded him on the slave ship with vivid detail. He leaves no detail spared as he describes slaves throwing themselves off of the boat seeing death as a better alternative than the fate that awaits them. Equino uses imagery in his text to show the reader the anguish they felt and appeals to the readers emotions to elicit a response to the wrongdoings of the white men that had enslaved them and kept them in such horrible conditions. For example he writes, “One day they had taken a number of fishes; and when they had killed and satisfied themselves with as many as they thought fit, to our astonishment who were on the deck, rather than give any of them to us to eat, as we expected, they tossed the remaining fish into the sea again…”(pg. 173) this shows the reader the cruelty of the men on the boat and makes the reader feel an emotion.

While aboard the ship, the slaves were placed in a common living quarter under the deck of the ship; hundreds of slaves were packed like sardines and chained during the voyage across the Atlantic. When first introduced to a new setting, under the deck, Equiano remarks, “there I received such a salutation in my nostrils as I had never experienced in my life: So that with the loathsomeness of the stench and crying together, I became so sick and low that I was not able to eat…” (Rowlandson 56). Equiano was placed in an environment with sickening conditions compared to Rowlandson’s discomfort and change of standard of living that made her conditions

One account of being taken upon a slave ship comes from Gustavus Vassa (also known as Olaudah Equiano). As relived through his autobiography The Interesting Life of Olaudah Equiano, Vassa details his experience boarding the ships as horrifying. Thrown aboard a ship, Vassa found himself at once terrified. As he recovered, he found other black people around him. Never having seen Whites before, Vassa had no idea what was going to happen to him.

Olaudah Equiano's captors were much crueler than Mary Rowlandson's had been. Mary Rowlandson was able to earn respect while Olaudah Equiano wasn't allowed food on the slave ship. When they were bought out of slavery, they wrote about their experiences for different purposes. Rowlandson wrote for spiritual purposes and Equiano wrote to change people's views on slavery. Mary Rowlandson and Olaudah Equiano were subjected to the humility and fear of slavery.

The slave narratives is an integral part of African literature. The slave narratives is a type of literature that appeared in the middle of the seventeenth century and continued to the end of the nineteenth century and was written by the same slaves who lived in oppressive servitude. Indeed Olaudah Equiano is one of the most famous writers in Slave Narrative. The first work was written in 1789, entitled "Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano," by Gustavus Vassa, who is of African origin, who wrote it by himself in this narrative. In this narrative, Olaudah Equiano conveys his ordeal during his arrest in Africa, and then talks about his liberation and success in Europe.

In his letter he described his life as an indentured servant as one where he has nothing to comfort him but sickness and death. The life that he was living in colonial Virginia was one where you couldn’t escape or else you will be captured. Attempting it could of cause him to die, therefore he hoped his parents brought his escape but with his parents being poor there was no way of escaping the life of an indentured servant. Having no escape as an indentured servant, he wrote to his parents a letter asking that his parents bought out the indenture. In his letter, he wrote that he was trapped in a place filled of diseases that can make any body weak and leave you with lack of comfort and rattled with guilt.

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

He said, "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" (Perkins 165). He expressed the pain that he felt during his slavery experience, and people may feel the pain he suffered through his writing. In addition, he writes that, “rather than give any of them to us to eat, as we expected, they threw the remaining fish into the sea again" (Perkins 166). The misery and humiliation cannot be compared with nothing. It was pure cruelty what he suffered during slavery.

People consider a slave ship in the 1700s one of the scariest and most dangerous places on Earth at the time. Equiano describes the wicked conditions of the transatlantic slave trade and its affects on him and his peers. Equiano writes, “One day, when we had a smooth sea and moderate wind, two of my wearied countrymen who were chained together, preferring death to such a life of misery, somehow made through the nettings and jumped into the sea,” (Equiano 173). In these lines Equiano gives the reader an idea of the horrifying events on the ships including the death of his companions. Portraying this to readers helps them empathize with his experiences through the imagery of his work.

17.1 Captivity and Enslavement, Olaudah Equiano, the interesting Narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano written by himself 1. What are Equiano’s impressions of the white men on the ship and their treatment of the slaves? How does this treatment reflect the slave traders’ primary concerns? Equiano’s first impression of these white men is a feeling of uncertainty and sorrow for the future. As his story goes on Equiano is afraid of these white men, but also he is wishing to end it all because of the conditions and treatment of the slaves.

He uses these experiences to show just how unjust the treatment towards slaves was. As a child, he was not allowed to learn like many of the white children were, they wanted to keep the slaves ignorant