Olaudah Equiano A) Olaudah Equiano Term Paper

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5). Although the author was far from being fortunate to have been sold and bought and sold again, his ability to survive the sea passage that killed so many of his brethren testifies as much to his luck as to his mental and physical strength. Moreover, Equiano was young enough when he was first sold to the British to have still retained the fear of a child that might have prevented him from rebelling with as much fury as his older counterparts.

Equiano was lucky also in his encounters with whites in England and he notes in Chapter 6 that his master treated him "well." While in Falmouth at twelve years old, he recounts the white children with whom he bonded, as well as one mother: "This woman behaved to me with great kindness and attention; and taught me every thing in the same manner as she did her own child, and indeed in every respect treated me as such" (Ch. 3). His personal encounters with whites were not all so kind but Equiano had witnessed worse: "While I was thus employed by my master, I was often a witness to cruelties of every kind, which were exercised on my unhappy fellow slaves" (Ch. 5). Equiano was also fortunate to have met Captain Thomas Farmer, who treated him on par if not even better than he treated the white sailors on board with him. As the right-hand-man to the sailing captain, Equiano "immediately thought I might in time stand some chance by being on board to get a little money," and thus had ingrained within him a spirit of capitalism and business sensibility.

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C) Olaudah Equiano demonstrated a remarkable sense of curiosity that precluded him from giving up hope at the potential for freedom. When he was young, initially stationed as a slave in Falmouth, he did not let the language barrier deter him from learning about English culture and customs. For example, he attended Church services and "asked all I could about it...I was still at a great loss, and soon got into an endless field of inquiries, as well as I was able to speak and ask about things." While under the charge of Captain Farmer, he learned about mercantilism, trade, and the capitalist enterprise. His piety would also buttress his spirits and help him carry on in spite of oppression.

Therefore, the author's lust for life aided his ability to work towards his own freedom. Though resentful and highly critical of the slave trade, Equiano also knew how to "play the game," to work within the system to accomplish his objectives. He possessed what can be called a constructive survival spirit. He comments about his fellow slaves that "they still retain so much of human nature about them as to wish to put an end to their misery, and retaliate on their tyrants," and Equiano retaliated by beating the slave-owners at their own game (Ch. 5). Equiano caused and earned his improved conditions also out of sheer perseverance: "Still however we persevered," through hardship and setbacks (Ch. 6).

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