Olaudah Equiano - Book Report/Review Example

Olaudah Equiano Olaudah Equiano was of according to the story that he told, a Nigerian and life in the west was totally different to that inhis home village. His story is especially important in that it is one of the very few records we have by an 18th century African, if that is who he was, of life in Africa before the widespread influence of western society. The judgements made by him about western civilisation seem to have been tempered for good or bad by the people that he met on his adventures. In chapter 3 of his story he describes for instance his time in a Falmouth home saying quaintly to our 20th century ears ‘I was much caressed by this family’. Naturally his experiences were not always so positive as in chapter 5 where he describes ‘A New slavery’. The book contains instances of both kinds. Later however he was able to earn the price of his own freedom and it was after this that he began to campaign for the freedom of other Africans. In the first chapter of his book we have a description of the food in his African home and he says ‘The natives are unacquainted with those refinements of cookery which debauch the taste’. In other words, just like so many of us, he preferred the food of his childhood. Food is of course only one aspect of life. Is it possible that despite his adoption of western habits he really despise all aspects of Western life? He describes how houses in Nigeria were built for convenience as opposed to show. Was he thinking of the salons of London with their fine draperies and intrcately carved furniture and fittings? Although he describes slavery in his own country, he also seems in part to justify it – ‘but they were only prisoners of war, or such among us as had been convicted of kidnapping, or adultery, and some other crimes, which we esteemed heinous’. This ‘reasonable’ slavery of course later compared with the way he and his sister, innocent of crime, were kidnapped and forced into a life of slavery and in the same chapter he gives a description of how a greedy African chief, tempted by the money to be made from the slave trade, would deliberately incite a war with a neighbouring tribe in order that in the consequent battle prisoners might be taken, though he does describe the life of such prisoners, those not killed immediately, as being in many ways little different from that of the other people in the community. Clothing and lodging were nearly the same as theirs, (except that they were not permitted to eat with those who were free-born); and there was scarce any other difference between them, than a superior degree of importance which the head of a family possesses in our state, and that authority which, as such, he exercises over every part of his household. Some of these slaves have even slaves under them as their own property, and for their own use. Equinao describes the religion of his people as a belief in God as creator and with power to control events, but the people seemed to be no concept of life beyond the grave. In this at least he seems to feel that western religion is perhaps superior. He likens the African religion to that of Judaism and is able to back this argument with evidence from Christian theologians. The people were concerned with hygiene and he describes the African doctors positively. For the most part this chapter is positive in its description of African culture, as you would expect from someone who was campaigning for Africans to be allowed to continue in their own life style. In the second chapter of his book we have a narrative describing his travels to the coast where he comes into contact with apparently irreligious people who have allowed themselves to be influenced by western society. These he has little esteem for as is obvious from his description. I came among a people who did not circumcise, and ate without washing their hands. They cooked also in iron pots, and had European cutlasses and cross bows, which were unknown to us, and fought with their fists amongst themselves. Their women were not so modest as ours, for they ate, and drank, and slept, with their men. But, above all, I was amazed to see no sacrifices or offerings among them There follows a vivid description of his arrival aboard the slave ship. He describes life abroad as ‘a world of bad spirits’. He was confirmed in this negative attitude by the obvious physical differences from the people he had known up to this point and by the unknown language that they used. He was so overcome that he said he would rather have been a slave in his own country than be in his current situation He seems to have believed that he was among cannibals and this terror caused him to faint. He states ‘The white people looked and acted in so savage a manner, for I had never seen among any people such instances of brutal savagery.’ He tells of how, because of greed on the part of the slave masters that the slaves were packed so closely and in such filthy conditions that many died. In chapter three he meets Pascal, his future master, and from this time his opinion of westerners improved. ‘Quite contrary to what I had seen of any white people before; I therefore began to think that they were not all of the same disposition.’ We have instances of him identifying himself with the westerners as when he describes ‘our forces’ in the battle against Louisville. In chapter five he describes his life in Monserrat, although a relatively small island a place with a climate similar to that of Nigeria. Although he felt that on this island slaves were treated quite well he says that life expectancy was much less. He condemns practices such as the deliberate splitting up of families, yet this is just what must have happened to those slaves captured by his own people in times of war Equiano was able it seems to be objective enough to see good and bad on both sides, especially with regard to certain individuals rather than to whole nations. At the very beginning of his book, published in 1789, Equiano describes himself as ‘Olaudah Equiano or Augustus Vassa, the African’. In a letter to the queen of England he describes himself somewhat incorrectly as ‘The oppressed Ethiopian.’. He also describes himself as ‘ your most obedient,  and devoted humble servant.’ when addressing comments to those in the English houses of parliament. Equinao states that he was born in Africa, in the Eboe province of what is now Southern Nigeria, and the name that he went by was certainly an African one, despite the fact that his owner Pascal gave him the new name of Augustus Vassa. These were not the only names he used. There is even some evidence that he may have been born in America , perhaps in either Georgia or Carolina, at that time one of thirteen British colonies in North America. If it is true that the early part of his story is make believe this was probably not done in order to deceive but in order to make the case against slavery stronger as when he describes how he and his sister were captured while out playing, as well of course as the horrors he witnessed on the slave ship. A case perhaps of his committing a small sin in order to overcome what he saw as a much larger one. The first chapter of the narrative gives precise descriptions of life in Africa at that time. Things such as marriage customs for instance are described in precise detail . The web site ‘Where was Olaudah Equiano born?’ contains details of the many arguments for and against him being born in Nigeria. Despite the possibility of doubt about his childhood and youth everything else he writes can be verified. In 1792 he married an English woman and the couple had two children, so he identified himself at least in part with English society. His African name was not used before the writing of his autobiography and it is possible that he made up the name Olaudah Equinao as part of a carefully constructed African background.. However few slaves or ex-slaves used or referred to their African names. In Chapter 12 of his book Equiano resorts to his ultimate ploy in some ways when he sets out to prove that the trade in slaves is uneconomic as well as appealing to the common humanity that applies to all men and quotes from the scriptures liberally. His claim is that if Africans adopted British ways trade would be enormous and beneficial to the British. He describes a land twice as big as Europe and full of useful minerals and other good things, more valuable perhaps than slaves. He even compares the people of Africa in his own time as being like the Britons of long ago. Look at the differences civilization has brought he says – even in the matter of clothing. Consumption can only increase as time goes on if trade is properly established. The truth about the matter of his birth cannot after all this time be accurately determined. According to Vincent Carretta, as reported on the web site ’Where was Olaudah Equianao Born?’, he could just have been relating oral tradition, in other words stories he heard from other slaves. Whatever the truth is Equiano’s story can only have had a positive influence on the question of slavery and its abolition. He did not win on this occasion, but his interesting story, originally printed and sold for 7 shillings in the City of London, was one more nail in the coffin of legalised slavery in Britain and her dominions. It appeared in the year 1789, the same year that the British parliament first began to seriously consider the slave trade and its possible abolition. We should not forget the influence of black campaigners, whether or not they were African born, as well of course as the westerners such as William Wilberforce an d many others who campaigned on their behalf. Bibliography Electronic Sources Equinao, O. The interesting narrative of the life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, written by himself. The Project Gutenberg Book, released March 17th 2005, 24th April 2008 Equiano, Olaudah, BBC Historic sources, 24th April 2008 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/equiano_olaudah.shtml Olaudah Equiano or Gustavus Vassa, the African http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/ 24th April 2008 Where was Equiano Olaudah born? 24th April 2008 http://www.brycchancarey.com/equiano/nativity.htm Read More