Comparing Oroonoko and Equiano
I found our comparisons between Oroonoko and Equaino interesting. Both stories share similar tales of slavery with extremely different outcomes. These stories demonstrate the false and true promises that may have stemmed from slavery in the release of slaves to become freed men. In Oroonoko, the false promises of his slave owners prevent them from releasing him and his love as free. They give reasons and excuses for their behavior, but never are willing to admit that they have made a promise and broken it. Equiano is able to earn money to buy his own freedom in his story, however. His owner proves worthy of
Is this due to her status as a white female writer or due to the Greek tragedy set up of the novel? Would a white female have greater access to the stories of the horrific middle passage and Africa than another black male slave who would be in constant conversation with others in similar situations?I would argue that each story represents a truth through an amount of fiction. However, with recent debates on the probable birthplace of Equiano it appears that he is telling the stories of others as well through a story of his own life. his promise, almost unbelievably to the reader. Perhaps this stems from the fact that Behn does not claim to tell the story of her own life, but tells the story of another in an omniscient fashion. Behn is the author who should be more greatly questioned and scrutinized for her motives in writing and for the access she may have had to sources and the details of the life she shows through Oroonoko. "Scholars sometimes sense an undercurrent of fear that any challenge to the most eloquent portrayal of the horrific middle passage will inevitably call the authenticity of that historical event- and its horrors- into question" (Boyce). While Equiano is questioned for his descriptions of Africa and the Middle Passage, Behn's reliability as an author appears unquestioned. However, it seems more probable that the truth displayed in Equiano's tale must be founded in a greater basis of primary sources in the slaves that Equiano would have conversed daily with. The real interest I have in comparing these two stories is in the reliability of the authors who wrote each of these tales. This fear directly related to concerns that his account is untruthful, but Behn's account appears unquestioned as a work of historical fiction.
Common topics in this essay:
Passage Behn's,
Oroonoko Equaino,
middle passage,
,
horrific middle passage,
story own life,
white female,
story own,
horrific middle,
appears unquestioned,
own life,
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Acceptance Essays
