Post Five: Equiano

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano is prominently known as a slave narrative. Narrating African Americans’ stories has assisted in furthering the study of United States history and the complexities of slavery; never failing to discuss freedom, social justice, and slavery. Equiano brings up many societal issues that differ from today’s society. In the text, it mentions the treatment of women and how they would handle invoke punishments in the seventeenth century: “Adultery, however, was sometimes punished with slavery or death; a punishment which I believe is inflicted on it throughout most of the nations of Africa: so sacred among them is the honor of the marriage bed, and so jealous are they of the fidelity of their wives. Of this, I recollect an instance. A woman was convicted before the judges of adultery, and delivered over, as the custom was, to her husband to be punished,” (Equiano, 33).

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano can also be considered a travel narrative. Equiano is able to capture the adventures and observations he has withlist traveling; documenting his brief time in the state of Virginia, aboard the slave ships and British navy vessels. He also documented his visits to England, Holland, Scotland, Gibraltar, Nova Scotia, the Caribbean, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and South Carolina. These documentations of his travels served as a way to record and discuss the core ideas that encompass a slave and travel narrative. Overall, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano serves as an account of personal struggles, societal issues, navigating life under the control of white slavers, and maintaining one’s sanity during slavery.

Works Cited

Equiano, The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African. Written by Himself (1789), The Interesting Narrative and Other Writings (New York: Penguin, 1995)