Asha Hayes

HIST 1301
Ms. Chandler
11.27.16

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, the

African
The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African

Vol. 1 is written by Olaudah Equiano. This narrative takes place during a long stretch of time,

primarily during the Plantation Era, between his birth in 1745 until his arrival in Montserrat in

1764. The narrative demonstrates the life of Olaudah Equiano and how a slave was treated not

only in America but throughout the world during this time era.

Throughout the novel, Olaudah's experiences demonstrate the clear differences between

African slaves and White people in many different societies. A clear example of this is during his

trips between the West Indies and North America. Olaudah was fortunate enough to have an

owner would give him his freedom for the same price that he was brought. Thus Olaudah began

to sell fruit on the side as a way to gain his freedom. He faced many setbacks and insults from

white buyers who refuse to pay for goods, use "bad coin," or demand fraudulent refunds. This

demonstrates how Olaudah automatically was disadvantaged because of the way society viewed

a slave. This along with the continuous story of how he was treated as an educated slave shows

how different a black person was treated vs. a white male in his many societies.

Olaudah also demonstrates the difference between an American slave and a European

slave. While Olaudah did have many owners, most of his owners were British. A primary

example of this is Olaudahs owner Henry Pascal who was a lieutenant in the royal navy, but

now commanded this trading ship (page 94). This demonstrates the use of slaves in Europe, for

the personal aid of the owner. This differs from most American slaves because most slaves
during this era live in the South on plantations, and produced agricultural goods. The vast

majority of southern blacks served as field hands the economy was more dependent on slave

labor (Tindal and Shi, 416).

One of the most common examples of the life experiences of a slave which is very

common among slaves during this time was the experience of the Middle Passage. Olaudah

describes his experiences as the following; ..."the whole ship's cargo were confined together, it

became absolutely pestilential. The closeness of the place and the heat of the climate added to the

number in the ship, which was so crowded that each had scarcely room to turn himself, almost

suffocated us" (page 79). These conditions were very typical in any slave ship especially during

the Middle Passage, so much so that one in six Africans died while crossing the Atlantic (Tindal

and Shi, 76).

An atypical experience that Olaudah went through during his experiences as a slave was

his education. Slaves had completely different socioeconomic expectations compared to their

white counterparts, one being their access to education. Education was something that was not

given to the black community, slaves were punished for even trying to learn to read and advance

themselves educationally, punishment ranged from whippings to separation from family to

countless others (Chandler 2016). Olaudah, on the other hand, was fortunate enough to have

several owners that allowed him a multitude of opportunities that were not allowed to most if not

all other slaves. Near the end of his travels with his then-owner British lieutenant Michael Henry

Pascal, he had a chance to meet the sisters Miss Guerins. During their time together "They often

used to teach [him] to read, and took great pains to instruct [him] in the principles of religion and

the knowledge of God (page 136)."Olaudah had many opportunities like this one that many black
people never got and would have died for. This shows how different Olaudah's experiences were

from the average slaves.

Overall, I believe that the issue that Olaudah Equiano tries to confront through his

narrative is the issue of slavery itself. While Olaudah did have more opportunities than most

slaves, he did excellently depict the many problems a black person faced in during this time,

depicted the true horrors of slave life. He mentions my former sufferings in the slave-ship

presenting themselves to my mind, the recollection of them made me shudder (page 178).

Olaudahs writing later aides the abolitionist movement and helps repeal the African Slave Trade

in Britain and around the world. This demonstrates that his audience were primarily abolitionist

or people who believed in the anti-slavery movement, as well as all people who are curious about

the life of a slave during this time period.

The one point Olaudah does not mention or bring up at all during his narrative is the

experiences of other black slaves and how they differed from his lifestyle. At the end of the

narrative, Olaudah receives his freedom, which demonstrates how different his life was because

many slaves did not receive this privilege because of their circumstances, and it would be nice to

compare the stories of multiple slaves during this period.

I personally enjoyed reading this narrative, even though it was rather long, because it

helped me understand how my ancestors lived and allowed me to live through these experiences.

The pure truth of this narrative shows very clearly through his writing and it clearly gives the

story of a slave. I would recommend that any and everybody read this narrative to become more

historically aware and be able to learn more about this world. I especially believe that this story

is one that the African American community should read because of slavery effecting the lives of
all African Americans, both past and present. I give this narrative 4 stars, just shy of a perfect 5

because of its length, but overall this is a very interesting and informative piece.

Bibliography

Chandler, Kimberly. PEGS: Indentured Servitude and Slavery Lecture Notes, History 1301
from Houston Academy for International Studies, Houston, September 2016.
Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa,
the African Vol. I. London, 1789.
Tindal, George B., and Shi, David E. America, A Narrative History. New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 2016.