For Equiano, what distinguishes his life in slavery across the Atlantic from what he remembers of life in Africa? Does he feel that only ill befell him after leaving Africa? Does he seem to identify himself as African, Western, or both?
2 thoughts on “Olaudah Equiano”
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I believe Equiano distinguishes himself as a type of Westerner by the end of the narrative, and more specifically he identifies most with being a freed slave. In the beginning, when he is being traded from slaver to slaver, he is always trying to find his sister, people who look like him, or people that speak his native language. At this point he clearly identifies himself as an African. However, after going through the horrible slave tribulations on the cargo ship and at the first plantation, I feel that he becomes more a “slave” than an African. When he spends time in America and sees the iron muzzle on the woman, I feel that it becomes less about being and African and more about being a “slave.” Then, further on in the narrative, he begins to relate with his captors: “I could now speak English tolerably well, and I perfectly understood everything that was said. I not only felt muself quite easy with my new countrymen, but relished their society and manners” (702). Clearly Equiano has a transformation and becomes more in tune with the society he has been thrust into. I was most surprised by his use of the word “countrymen” in regards to the English. Finally, the transformation becomes complete when he gains his freedom from slavery. He achieves freedom in a western way, through trade. This reflects that he quickly adapts to Western customs and uses them to his advantage. For all these reasons, I feel that at the end he is a Western Freed Slave. He has seen and survived the struggles of being a slave and cannot put that behind him, but he is also ready to move on with his life. In the end, I feel that he becomes fully Westernized but maintains a grip on his past.
Equiano is in bondage both in Africa and in the Colonies. But they are two very different forms of slavery. As he is moved across Africa, he is no doubt in slavery. But the fundamental tenants are different. While the treatment differs between owners, there is a fundamental hope that he can see himself assimilating and possibly even becoming part of the family in one case.
But once he crosses the Atlantic, there is a shift in his attitude towards the fellow slaves and the way he views himself. His language shifts from talking about other Africans as different before boarding the slave ship to brothers once they are all on the ship. Once he reaches barbados, he abandons the idea of assimilation, and his language becomes much darker, to the point where he regards death as his final friend.