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3). The first division consists of men; married women make up the second division; the third division is "young men" and "maidens" are seen in the fourth (Equiano, p. 4). To Europeans who thought all African native cultures were simplistic and barbaric, the dances that Equiano describes certainly must have stirred creative interest because the dances reflected "some interesting scene of real life" such as "some rural sport" and they were accompanied with "many musical instruments" (Equiano, p. 4).
The way in which Equiano employs religious values into his book is also very effective and no doubt made a powerful impression on readers -- not necessarily scholars and intellectuals but also average people with spiritual backgrounds and beliefs -- which, of course, gave some momentum to the antislavery movement. On pages 69-70, after reviewing some of the brutal cruelty visited upon slaves in the West Indies, Equiano wonders why, since "He" (God) has told the world (through the Holy Bible) that He has both the "oppressor and the oppressed" in His hands, he doesn't work his spiritual magic and change the dynamics to favor the oppressed. In the New Testament's Beatitudes Jesus Christ made a point of saying, "Blessed are the meek" for they will "inherit the Earth." In other words, the underdog and the oppressed would be received into the Kingdom of God. Referring to the pour souls in slavery, Equiano writes: "…if these are not the poor, the broken-hearted, the blind, the captive, the bruised, which our Saviour speaks of, who are they?" (Equiano, p. 70).
No enlightened reader with a conscience and a spirit that that has reflects Christian values could fail to be emotionally touched by Equiano's narrative as he approached his chance to obtain freedom from slavery; this is another aspect of the book that certainly played perfectly into the hands and hearts of those involved in the antislavery movement. A hard-working, honest man who has been captive to slavery since the age of 10, and has been promised that with a certain amount of money he could be a free man, is nonetheless stymied...
This is a frustrating experience anyone who can read would relate to. To wit, on page 95 Equiano has the money to buy his freedom, and he approached his master "with money in my hand and many fears in my heart." His "true friend" the captain backed him up when his master questioned where he had obtained the money to buy his freedom. "The captain then said he knew I got the money very honestly and with much industry… on which my master replied I got money faster than he did, and said he would not have made me the promise he did if he had thought I should have got money so soon" (Equiano, p. 95). When the captain (Equiano's "true friend") had pressured Equiano's master sufficiently, the master then asked Equiano to go to the Secretary at the Register Office to have his "manumission" (his emancipation from slavery paperwork) prepared (p. 96). To this, the author wrote, "These words of my master were like a voice from Heaven to me. In an instant all my trepidation was turned into unutterable bliss," he continued (p. 96).
Christians involved in the antislavery movement during the Enlightenment surely were greatly impressed by Equiano's frequent use of Scripture to more fully explain his feelings, good or bad as they happened to be. When he was on his way to buy his freedom, Equiano wrote that his "imagination was all rapture" like the apostle Peter "…whose deliverance from prison was so sudden and extraordinary, that he thought he was in a vision…" (p. 96).
Conclusion
The book that Equiano wrote so poignantly and with such believability clearly made a strong impression on the antislavery movement during the Enlightenment. For those who read and discussed Equiano's book during that era, and were sensitive to the humanity that went into the writing, the polished authenticity provided perfect validation to the movement to end slavery.
Works Cited
Equiano, Olaudah. Equiano's Travels: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
or Gustavus Vassa the African. New…
Works Cited
Equiano, Olaudah. Equiano's Travels: The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano
or Gustavus Vassa the African. New York: Frederick a. Praeger, 1967.
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