Journal for Equiano

Gregory Alcala
November 3rd, 2009
English 48A
Lankford
Journal for Equiano

Quote: "When we went to rest the following night, they offered us some victuals, but we refused it; and only the comfort we had was in being in one another's arms all that night, and bathing each other with our tears." -Olaudah Equiano, Narrative of the Life
Summary: Equiano is speaking about the horror of being taken out of his world into slavery, and the cruelty of slavery is immediate. He was also captured with his sister and that is the other person he is talking about in this quote. I would think that anyone else with less strength of will and character would have turned against his fellow man if strangers captured you from your childhood home to make you into a slave. I'm not sure if I'm picking up on the tone of voice that he meant this work to be read in. I can see how he is showing the picture and underlining message to be that slavery treats humans as less then humans. Having his sister with him while he was being taken to his new life of slavery only provided a very small amount of comfort, but it was something that probably had a positive lasting effect on him.

Quote: "We entertain no doubt of the general authenticity of this very intelligent African's interesting story. The narrative wears an honest face ... [and] seems calculated to increase the odium [hostility] that hath been excited against the West-India planters." -The Monthly Review(critiquing Equiano's writing during his lifetime), quoted from Remembering Equiano (http://www.equiano.soham.org.uk/biography.htm)
Summary: Equiano was quickly seen as a strong writer for showing his personal view on the cruelty of slavery. Equiano being born in Africa and sharing his early life and describing the native culture which humanized slaves. No one was really doing that before and Equiano was breaking the cycle of only seeing slaves as property. He was changing the view of many people of who slaves were before they come to the western world as slaves. By him doing this it was probably harder for people to turn that blind eye to the cruelty of slavery.

Overall Summary: By opening his autobiography with a small humble speech I felt he was being truly honest. He wasn't looking for a higher status or to gain reputation. It seemed like he just wanted to share his story with people that were already interested, and if other people could read his story and be inspired to become a better person Equiano would give himself a pat on the back. Equiano was showing how his people lived because it was part of his life and couldn't leave that out of his biography. However, I felt it would have had a effect on the reader during the time of slavery. These were human beings that were being ripped out of their native lands to be forced into the lowest social status of a foreign land. To remind or enlighten the Western world that slaves were human beings that only had a different culture I think fueled the anti slavery movement.