Olaudah Equiano's Slave Narrative: Identity and Freedom

Introduction: Equiano's Unique Origins

The narrative of the former slave Olaudah Equiano may seem unfamiliar in its construction and ideology to many readers acquainted only with popular slave narratives, such as that of Frederick Douglass. Unlike the narratives of slaves who came of age entirely within the institution of bondage, Equiano was born free, on the continent of Africa. He was born into an upper-class African royal family, knew what it meant to belong to a privileged caste, and even regarded himself as superior to other Africans and to the whites with whom his tribe came into contact.

Comparing African and West Indian Slavery

All of this changed once Equiano was sold into slavery. He was subject to the same deprivations during the Middle Passage as those Africans who came from far less privileged circumstances. Indeed, Equiano endured some of the most rigorous conditions of slavery of the era, that of the West Indies. Interestingly, the institution of slavery already existed within Equiano's own culture and thus offered him a point of comparison when he first encountered his personal enslavement.

He does not outright condemn his own tribe's practice of holding slaves at first, but rather defensively states: "Those prisoners which were not sold or redeemed we kept as slaves: but how different was their condition from that of the slaves in the West Indies! With us they do no more work than other members of the community, even their master; their food, clothing and lodging were nearly the same as theirs, (except that they were not permitted to eat with those who were freeborn), and there was scarce any other difference between them than a superior degree of importance which the head of a family possesses in our state, and that authority which, as such, he exercises over every part of his household. Some of these slaves have even slaves under them as their own property and for their own use."

It is for this reason, perhaps, that Equiano first critiques the institution of white-inflicted slavery not as a deprivation of liberty, but as a condition of horrific toil. He observes: "Have already related an instance or two of particular oppression out of many which I have witnessed, but the following is frequent in all the islands. The wretched field-slaves, after toiling all the day for an unfeeling owner who gives them but little victuals, steal sometimes a few moments from rest or refreshment to gather some small portion of grass, according as their time will admit." He argues that the absence of any shared sense of humanity between owners and slaves in the West Indies — in stark contrast to his own culture — produced the particular deprivation experienced by enslaved people in that region.

Conclusion: Advocacy for Universal Human Suffrage

This also results in Equiano's somewhat more compassionate view of particular white individuals whom he encountered over the course of his life, and ultimately in his embrace of Christianity — an ideology he came to value because of its perceived capacity to soften the hearts of those from whom he was able to purchase his freedom. Nevertheless, Equiano closes his narrative firmly from the point of view of an advocate for universal human rights and the abolition of slavery, ensuring that his personal journey serves a broader political and humanitarian purpose.