Olaudah Equiano A) Olaudah Equiano

Olaudah Equiano a) Olaudah Equiano ironically participated in the slave trade itself to earn the money that bought him his freedom. In Chapter 5 he notes, "I used frequently to have different cargoes of new negroes in my care for sale." Later, Equiano kick-started his career as a merchant when he became Captain Thomas Farmer's esteemed shipmate. Accompanying the captain on mercantile voyages introduces Equiano to the world of business and sales, which he capitalized on to save gradually enough money to purchase his freedom.

At first, he notes, "I had but a very small capital to begin with; for one single half bit, which is equal to three pence in England, made up my whole stock" (Ch. 6). One trip at a time, Equiano bolstered his profits until "with my money in my hand, and many fears in my heart," he bought his freedom back from his master (Ch. 7). Moreover, the author learned the ups and downs of capitalism the hard way: having had his entire stock stolen from him at one point.

"Thus, in the very minute of gaining more by three times than I ever did by any venture in my life before, was I deprived of every farthing I was worth," (Ch. 6). Equiano thus accumulated money through, as he notes, "honest" means, the same means used by other merchants of the time (Ch. 7). His business sense commingled with patience, pride, and temperance too.

Although longing for freedom and willing to escape, Equiano had seen enough terror on board the slave-trading ship and in England to know the severe penalties for being caught. Being in the charge of a relatively kind slave-master helped Equiano cultivate patience in the midst of oppression, and the author also keenly observed the social and economic customs of the whites while he was a slave.

Finally, Equiano recalls the moment that changed his life: "I prayed him to be as good his offer to me, when he was pleased to promise me my freedom as soon as I could purchase it," (Ch. 7). A b) Equiano was exceptionally lucky throughout his life as a slave and later as an independent and free merchant.

In Chapter 2 of his narrative he describes the horrific, hellish sea passage, which "filled me with astonishment, which was soon converted into terror, when I was carried on board." He knew he was "deprived of all chance of returning to my native country," and also "had never seen among any people such instances of brutal cruelty." In addition to hunger and sickness typical of long sea voyages, Equiano witnessed scores of "severe floggings" and the deliberate drowning of the captive crew.

He recalls: "I have seen some of these poor African prisoners most severely cut for attempting to do so, and hourly whipped for not eating. This indeed was often the case with myself," (Ch. 2). Whereas many other slaves he saw were swiftly beaten at the slightest sign of disobedience, Equiano had met with more lenient slave-owners.

He recalls a man who tried to hide from his cruel master: "fate did not favor the poor oppressed man; for, being discovered when the vessel was under sail, he was delivered up again to his master," who proceeded to pour hot wax all over his back (Ch. 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. 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.