Subjects:
Equiano begins his narrative in the simple, yet enthusiastic voice that carries the reader
throughout his life story. He makes his plans entirely clear, he intends his narrative to
open the world's eyes to the degradation and inhumanity of slavery. Yet he knows, too,
that merely preaching of goodwill towards Africans would not turn any heads. He must
show directly the irony that those naming others "barbarians" were the barbaric ones
themselves. His intensely personal story, with detailed descriptions of what he saw cruel
or ordinary and of how one African dealt with forced encounters with different lands and
cultures, was what it would take for Englishmen to relate and thus to understand. We are
going to look at who Equiano’s audience was and how he tried to reach these particular
Equaino writes his narrative in a very honest and informal form, as if he is writing
to someone that he knows well. The audience however, seems to be the people of the
Americas as well as Europe, not just other blacks or slaves. For this reason the book is
published in America as well as Europe several times while Equia
. . .
likely to jump right on the abolitionist band wagon though, because slavery and
colonialism was incredibly profitable for them.
Whatever literary qualities Equiano may possess, his intention was to persuade his
audience (mostly if not exclusively white) of the evils of slavery and the slave trade. It seems as though the
white audience pushes Equiano toward incorporating white perspectives, to the point of
blurring the line between rhetoric and assimilation. Equiano speaks of how he had been enchanted by Spain and claims that "it
was like a fair with the natives, who brought us fruits of all kinds, and sold them to us
much cheaper than I had got them in England.
Equiano applies to the government of Britain to hear his plea.
In conclusion, we can see that Equiano had many different audiences and he tried
to reach all of them in strikingly unique ways. Because of this, Equiano had to utilize
British language and methods of writing, and Christianity in order to get the attention of
the British aristocracy. The features of his book
are an interesting step in the evolution of British Literature, African-American Literature,
and American Literature, for it was influenced by, and wound up influencing, all of these
bodies of literature. The values, beliefs, and interests
of the white audience will shape the manner and content of the text, since the white
audience controls the means of legal, political, and social change.
For Equiano, staying in England meant working towards his goals through British
culture.
Equiano also uses Christianity and religion to reach his audience. He tries to show
his audience in regards to cultural encounters with the emphasis on race, "What makes any
even important, unless by it's observation we become better and wiser, and learn to do
justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly before God!" (236) He is trying to set an image
into the minds of the reader of the unjust that has occurred. Others may have included abolitionists, historians curious about the
effect of the slave trade on blacks, and even many Europeans interested in the popular
novels of the day.
Essay's Topics
All research is for reference purposes only.