Verified Document

Life Of Equiano Term Paper

Equiano Slave narratives like those of Frederick Douglass and Oladuh Equiano are essential to understanding the institution and the effect oppression has on the human body, mind, and spirit. Each slave narrative also offers something unique, because no two stories will be the same. Different slaves have different experiences, as well as different reactions to those experiences. Slaves like Frederick Douglass and Oladuh Equiano have formative experiences developed during their childhood, initial capture, and term of enslavement: experiences that provide them with special skills. Those skills could later help them escape and articulate their experiences in writing, thereby promoting the political and social liberation of slaves. Equiano worked much of his life as an assistant to a ship's captain, exposing him to different people and offering him a worldly outlook that would help him later when he attained freedom. Douglass had a completely different background, learning how to calk. Equiano and Douglass therefore developed plans for freedom that were based on what they knew about their individual circumstances. Neither Equiano nor Douglass could have escaped without the skills they acquired and honed during captivity, and the opportunities they created for themselves. Slavery taught special trades to certain slaves that later on could assist them in escaping slavery.

Equiano served a number of different slave masters until he was eventually purchased by Michael Henry Pascal, a lieutenant in the British Royal Navy. Serving this particular master proved to be important for Equiano, because it gave him a unique outlook on life, and special set of skills. Prior to his serving Pascal, Equiano served on a few plantations in West Africa before being tossed around from master to master. He served for a brief time in Virginia, before he was sold to Captain Pascal. These early experiences in slavery were brutal, which is why Equiano started to view Captain Pascal favorably. He even becomes emotionally attached to...

Because Captain Pascal took a liking to Equiano, Equiano remained with Pascal for many years. Pascal nicknamed Equiano "Gustavus Vassa," a name that appears in the subtitle of his autobiography. In the autobiography, Equiano states that he "could not think of leaving my master, to whom I was very warmly attached," and accompanies his master all around the world including places as distant as Turkey and the Caribbean.
On board Pascal's ships, Equiano acquires a number of useful skills ranging from practical trades to communications skills. He learns the general principles of navigation and seafaring, such as how the captain deals with wind and weather conditions. Sailing through rough waters on many occasions, Equiano understands the importance for adequate provisions and good sailing techniques. Occasionally Pascal teaches Equiano a few sailing tips. Equiano maintains the ship decks, too. Being on Pascal's ships introduced Equiano to a number of different people from around the world. One of the most important early relationships that Equiano develops is with the well-educated white boy Richard (Dick). Thus, Equiano learns how to speak English from a young age and this skill later helps him. Pascal laster encourages Equiano to learn how to play the French horn, which he does. Equiano also learns gradually how to read and write, especially through reading the Christian Bible. He develops a strong Christian faith, which serves as a point of communication between him and the whites who he encounters on the way. In Cadiz, Equiano learns that not all white Christians are the same, as he argues with a Catholic priest about the ability for a person to read scripture on his own vs. converting to Catholicism and only listening to the priest's version. Perhaps most importantly, Equiano encounters other slaves along his voyages, and is able to witness first hand how extensive the institution has become, and how it is connected with colonialism. For…

Sources used in this document:
Work Cited

Equiano, Olaudah. The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written by Himself. Boston: Knapp, 1837.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Equiano Douglas the Narratives of Frederick Douglass
Words: 633 Length: 2 Document Type: Essay

Equiano Douglas The narratives of Frederick Douglass and Thomas Equiano both offer insight into the African and African-American experiences prior to the Civil War. While both Douglass and Equiano can both easily be classified as abolitionists, their approach to abolitionism and political activism via literature differs significantly. One of the main reasons why Douglass and Equiano differ in their approach is that they wrote during completely different time periods: Equiano nearly

Equiano / Vassa Olaudah Equiano
Words: 1503 Length: 4 Document Type: Research Proposal

..really believe[d] the people could not have been saved" (Carretta, p. 129). In conclusion, this is a fascinating man who was put into slavery and later became an educated, respected writer in his own time. And yet, even after publishing his book, the Interesting Narrative, critics in London doubted that he could have written it himself. A black man with such narrative skill was obviously a rarity. In the Monthly Review,

Equiano's Travels Edited by PA
Words: 758 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

Equiano's Travels: A Summary of the Story Equiano begins his story in Eboe, his homeland, a province of the kingdom of Benin. His tales recount his observations in his homeland and he notes some of the cultural and social events he encounters during his travels. He tells of the justice system in his homeland, which he thought to be fair - law of retaliation. He also notes the double standards present;

Equiano Benin, 1745-1799 : Travels Slave Narrative .
Words: 3366 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Paper

Equiano (Benin, 1745-1799): Travels ( slave Narrative). Report written Ductive format. Also research Assimilation In many ways large and small, Equiano's Travels: The Interesting Narrative of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, is a remarkably fascinating read. This autobiographical account of a African slaves triumph over the forced bondage of chattel slavery that eventually results in his becoming an internationalist abolitionist of both slavery and the slave trade that propels

Equiano and Prince
Words: 2527 Length: 7 Document Type: Term Paper

Olaudah Equiano / Prince Slave Stories The story of Olaudah Equiano began in Nigeria in 1745, when he was born; by the age of 11 Equiano was a victim of kidnapping and was sold to slave traders. His fate was not to be nearly as harsh as millions of other African natives that were seized and put into bondage, as his own writing reveals. But he was a slave and suffered

Life of Olaudah Equiano
Words: 1311 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Oluaduh Equiano The Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, The African Written by Himself is a two-volume memoir of the author's being bought and sold like cargo during the heyday of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Divided into twelve chapters, The Life of Olauduh Equiano begins with the author's description of his own people and culture in West Africa. From the outset, Equiano uses a tone of humility and warns the

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now