In class, we discussed Olaudah Equiano’s autobiography. I learned that Equiano was one of the thousands slaves that were traded during the late 1700s. The story starts as Equiano being a slave in a Virginia plantation. He first mentions “ this gentlemen,whose name was Michael Henry Pascal” (Equiano, 107). Mr.Pascal bought him off his first master. Equiano by “this gentleman” to the the English coast where he was shocked to find out that he was yet again to be assigned to another master. He also mentions that he was a slave at the age of “near twelve years old.” I cannot even fathom the amount of agonizing bating and labor he was put through, that he did not mention. It also amazed me that he never knew what snow, until one morning he was amazed by what looked like salt to him and he made questions about the snow that were very interesting. He also made this friend whose names Dick and was his interpreter. Dick along with another master of Equiano taught him how to read, write and get an education. Equiano was also a somewhat of a babysitter to one of his master. In conclusion what I’m trying to get at is that there is a meaning in the way he mentions his relationships with his master, friends and kids he met. They were obviously not good people but I think the message is there was some good in them. In the excerpt we are given it never mention anything bad that they did to him as opposed to the Mary Prince’s story whose whole excerpt is about the mistreatment of African American slaves. It is important to add to his “ interesting narrative” that he in the end freed himself.
#OlaudahEquiano #Equiano #Relationships
English 2323-020 
Hi Destiny! I agree with what you said about Equiano’s masters not being good people, but having good in them. From what was written in this narrative we are able to come to this conclusion, however, I feel like there are other major parts of Equiano’s life that he chose not to add. Like you said, there might have been harsh labor he was forced to go through, but he did not mention it. I think there is a good chance this is true considering what slavery was in the 1700s, but we’ll never know from just reading his narrative.
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Hi DestinyAzul!
I agree with many of your thoughts as well. I cannot imagine being twelve years and being forced to work in horrible labor with horrible treatment. It’s terrible that he was robbed of his childhood and of his worth at such a young age. I actually found it interesting that he continued to form relationships with white men given the fact that he was almost always sold to another white man. Though I do have to say that his best relationship was with Dick in my opinion.
I am also going to have to agree with you that Mary Prince’s story was more about the mistreatment of African Americans. Her story talked more about the pain and suffering that African Americans had to deal with. With that said, I did find out that they excluded anything that involved the sexual exploitation that she endured by her masters. I don’t know how I feel about this because it was part of her story but at the same time I don’t know how others would feel reading about it.
Anyways, great job with the post!
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