Analysis Of Oroonoko By Aphra Behn

Trigger agrees that “...the native American evidence was strongly colored by a desire to please Europeans...historical records are stereotyped in various ways that must be understood before they can be used reliably as historical documents” (Trigger, 1991, p. 1196). Trigger’s thorough article provides clear, specific situations that occurred during European contact, and the position they were affected in. For example, Natives believed the Europeans were“...supernatural spirits...Europeans...offered...supernatural interpretation in terms of native religious concepts” (Trigger, 1991, p. 1200). This situation is related to the romantic behavior of the Indians as the Europeans were arriving into their land. A historiographical example which relates and agrees to Trigger’s argument is the novel, Native Americans: Opposing Viewpoints, because it provides several different viewpoints rather than favoring only the

When the first colonists landed in the territories of the new world, they encountered a people and a culture that no European before them had ever seen. As the first of the settlers attempted to survive in a truly foreign part of the world, their written accounts would soon become popular with those curious of this “new” world, and those who already lived and survived in this seemingly inhospitable environment, Native American Indian. Through these personal accounts, the Native Indian soon became cemented in the American narrative, playing an important role in much of the literature of the era. As one would expect though, the representation of the Native Americans and their relationship with European Americans varies in the written works of the people of the time, with the defining difference in these works being the motives behind the writing. These differences and similarities can be seen in two similar works from two rather different authors, John Smith, and Mary Rowlandson.

Prior to European influences, many indigenous religions did not dichotomize the world into good and evil, and, as a result, natives interpreted their deities as both good and bad. When the town council describes their indigenous beliefs as “wicked,” this diction represents how European influences affected and shifted how natives interpretation of nature.

Based on most ethnic principles and values in early settlers, they were alike, but in a unique way they were different. In both primary and secondary sources, each author has the same type of writing style. In “The Coming of Age in the Dawnland”, Charles C. Mann is referring to analyzation by introducing the readers to Tisquantum the “friendly Indian”and the experiences of traveling to Dawnland and interacting with the Native Americans. Another primary source, “Of Plymouth Plantation”, written by William Bradford, was an American Literature based story to inform the reader about the travels and beliefs of the Puritans and the Pilgrims. Last source is the, “Suppressed Speech Of Wamsutta (Frank B.) James, Wampanoag”. This speech is also to inform the reader about what the Wampanoags went through and what kind of lifestyle they were living from one of their own men's perspective.Each of these villages, families, and individuals all had to go through the same struggles, hardships, and brutal conditions. So, let’s get into what beliefs, ways, and religions each one of these groups had to go through.

Throughout history, slaves have been treated like animals and thought of as property, not human beings. Even Oroonoko, a handsome, statuesque prince is turned into a slave because of his race, and is degraded and mistreated. To racist slave owners, the horrible treatment of Africans was acceptable because they were a different species, and no amount of education or beauty could save them. Behn shows how unjust and brutal slavery is in Oroonoko. The treatment of slaves is comparable to the treatment of the poor, as both have few rights, and both are unjustly judged and mistreated based on social status.

Just as the Greeks, the Romans and any other great civilization, Native Americans had their own gods with certain values. These values are a sharp contrast to the current european expansionist mindset and give great insight into understanding Native American’s actions and behavior. These documents are about Native American culture and are written around the arrival of European settlers. These documents show the conflicts that many Native Americans had were due to many miscommunications and conflicts in values. The two Native American values that the Europeans most tread on were their very philosophy and honor, which leads to some of the most brutal acts of war and massacres.

In the early 16 century, Europeans learned about Natives in the Americas through images depicted by early conquerors. Fortunately, we have several first-hand account by a settler who depicts them in paintings by the name of John White. While these accounts have their limitations in terms of accuracy, it is apparent that Europeans tended to view the indigenous peoples as lacking morality but in my opinion John White proves all the speculation wrong.

It is without doubt that there has been a prominent distinction between the Native Americans and the English settlers upon landing in Virginia in the early 1600s. With the prior ‘knowledge’ from previous pioneers in America, the colonist had viewed the Natives in a vilified manner as savages without proper means of civilization. These so called ‘heathens’ were said

One attitude towards the Native American that quickly emerged was that the natives were fully human. They were perceived as beings that could reap the benefits of European civilization which included Christian doctrine and salvation. It was shown

The terms and images Rowlandson uses signify black, hellish, devilish peoples who have no sense of civility. Furthermore the Indians, or "Others", who are not Christian, and practice their own spiritual customs, are viewed as barbaric and abnormal to Rowlandson.

During American colonial times, the native peoples of the new world clashed often with the English settlers who encroached upon their lifestyle. Many horror stories and clichés arose about the natives from the settlers. As one might read in Mary Rowlandson’s Narrative, often these disputes would turn to violence. To maintain the process of the extermination of the natives alongside Christian moral beliefs, one of the main tenets of colonial life was the belief that the natives were “savages”; that they were morally and mentally inferior to the English that settled there. As is the case with many societies, certain voices of dissent began to spin. These voices questioned the assertions

The Europeans quickly agreed on a very simple (and self serving) set of assumptions about the native peoples they encountered in the New World: there were "good Indians" and "bad Indians." The good were simple, free, and innocent; the bad were degraded, brutal, and untrustworthy. All individuals, all tribes, at all times could be understoodand all were inferior in the light of Western, Christian civilization. Children are harmed when they are bombarded with stereotypical images because they internatlize these negative perceptions and will hold the images throughout their lives. When a child sees or meets a Native American, their first impressions are the ones they were shown from the books and pictures they saw.

            Indians had their own way of life and culture before the Spaniards came and started to change things. Native Americans had their own land and lived very different lifestyle than the settlers that came from Europe. The settlers did not approve of the ways of life of the Native Americans as they saw the Native American as wild savages. One viewpoint of the settlers from Dr. Gayle lesson states “As the Puritan minister Cotton Mather wrote, "probably the Devil" had delivered these "miserable savages" to America, "in hopes that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ would never come here to destroy or disturb his absolute empire over them."” The Native Americas were not respected by the settlers. Their ways, cultures, and religion were not accepted they did know their lives were going to be changed drastically.

her would-be lover impotent, an outcast from what used to be his realm of power.

Aphra Behn’s novel, Oroonoko, gives a very different perspective on a slave narrative. Her characters embody various characteristics not usually given to those genders and races. Imoinda’s character represents both the modern feminist, as well as the subservient and mental characteristics of the typical eighteenth-century English woman. Oroonoko becomes an embodiment of what is normally a white man’s characteristic; he is the noble, princely, and sympathetic character that is not usually attributed to black men in general throughout most novels of slavery. The complete opposite character style is given to the slavers; the English are viewed as the barbaric, cunning, brutal characters that are usually portrayed in opposite and more generous