Life of Equiano Term Paper

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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 Pascal, who seems to be affectionate toward the young Equiano too. Because Captain Pascal took a liking to Equiano, Equiano remained with Pascal for many years.

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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….....

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