The Horrors of a Slave Ship

Equiano wrote to help show society the evils that lie in slavery. He used writing, to tell the truth of conditions of life for slaves, making readers feel every word he used through their senses: “The stench of the hold, while we were on the coast, was so intolerably loathsome, that it was dangerous to remain there for anytime” (Equiano 364). While they both wrote with different purposes in mind, Rowlandson and Equiano managed to paint a picture so vivid that it invoked emotions that edified society.

Heinrich Heine's poem the Slave ship reveals the inhumane and horrible experiences slaves had to go through while traveling on slave ships. At the beginning of the poem the captain Mynheer van Koek of the ship admires his work, for he obtained six hundred slaves "dirt cheap". More than likely, Koek bought the slaves from African leaders who had no problem in trading their own people. Often times African leaders would do this to punish their people, not knowing the lingering effect it would have on the world. Heine's describes how Koek swapped "brandy", "trinkets", and "beads" for the precious life of a slave. In stanza 7, the captain's moment of bliss has finally come to an end we he realizes that the slaves are dieing in substantial numbers,

The main point of the article, The Horrors of a Slave Ship, was to inform the public of the great deal of pain inflicted upon the victims that were attacked within the African American slave trade system. The article, The Horrors of a Slave Ship, has a main point of purpose to shed light on the truth of the

Equiano was a victim of this Triangular Trade enterprise and was taken away from everything he had ever known at the young age of 11. He was traded from tribe to tribe and in most cases was treated just like any other child of the village. He is labeled as a slave, though the treatment he receives does not fall under the stereotypical conditions of a slave. He was allowed to play with other children and was treated like a

If it were not for the stories past down from generation to generation or the documentations in historical books, the history of the twelve million African slaves that traveled the “Middle Passage” in miserable conditions would not exist. Olaudah Equiano contributes to this horrid history with The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. Through this narrative, the appalling personal experience of each slave is depicted. He accomplishes his rhetorical purpose of informing the world of the slave experience in this narrative. His use of unique style and rhetorical devices in this conveying narrative portray his imperative rhetorical purpose.

Another individual, Olaudah Equiano, was captured in Nigeria. He was taken by ship across the Middle Passage. Once he was put aboard the ship, the crew roughed him up some in order to test his fortitude. Having looked around his situation, he noticed the other slaves were very dejected. He passed out and awoke with members of the party that had sold him around him. He was afraid he was being sold to be eaten, but was assured he was not. He was led to the lower decks of the ship. The stench and disgust of the area were more than he could take. Olaudah became depressed and fell very sick. He often wished that death would come and take him. Once the cargo ship was fully loaded, the space was exceedingly limited. He was beaten for not eating and whipped hourly. After finding some of his own nation, he was told that they were being taken to a white man’s country to work. This was some relief to him. He soon became so weak that he was brought to the deck and allowed to stay there. This was a minor relief as he had to witness those that were brought form below at near death. During a period of calm seas, several slaves successfully jumped ship. The crew was quick to react and made all slaves go below deck. After stopping the ship setting about a

Throughout the book The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, Equiano tries to say that he is just an ordinary person, but this cannot be the case. He survives several ship wrecks, learns to read and write, and is able to buy his freedom. This is far from ordinary and borderlines with extraordinary. As he describes his adventures he starts by telling you a depressing story of how his sister got separated from him. This sets up the reader to know that there is plenty more tragedy to come. This is when he gets thrown into a life of slavery. From there he tries to wiggle his way out from the life of a slave and to create his own. Equiano uses anecdotes that he has experienced to prove to his readers that slavery is cruel and unforgiving, such as the time when he was being transported, to the treatment under his masters, and finally even when he was a free man.

Olaudah Equiano had a very unique experience with the slave trade system. He began conveying his experience with how he was captured in his village by two men and a women, who kidnapped him and his sister. Their captors traveled with them for a few days before separating the siblings, and selling Equiano to his first master. He was treated fairly well, even when he ran away for a day and came back, he says his master “having slightly reprimanded me, ordered me to be taken care of, and not ill-treated.” (Equiano 27) Shortly after this engagement, Equiano’s master loses his wife and child and sends Equiano away to be sold again. He even gets to see his sister one last time before, again, they are separated.

“The Slave Ship: A Human History” written by Marcus Rediker describes the horrifying experiences of Africans, and captains, and ship crewmen on their journey through the Middle Passage, the water way in the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and the Americas. The use of slaves to cultivate crops in the Caribbean and America offered a great economy for the European countries by providing “free” labor and provided immense wealth for the Europeans. Rediker describes the slave migration by saying, “There exists no account of the mechanism for history’s greatest forced migration, which was in many ways the key to an entire phase of globalization” (10). African enslavement to the Americas is the most prominent reason for a complete shift in the

Equiano’s luck soon shifted when he was once again kidnapped and sold as a slave, this time he would have to endure the notoriously dreadful journey across the sea to America. Knowing that this was a pivotal point in his life and that he would become a gudgeon to the harshness of slavery, Equiano attempted to prepare himself for what lay ahead. However, the sight of the inhumane acts he witnessed on the African coast, while being transported, were new to Equiano and instilled fear into his consciousness.

From the moment of capture, African men, women and children endured a relentless chain of pain and abuse. Life onboard the slave ships became a constant battle for survival, as the gruesome conditions below the deck presented formidable physical health problems. Burnside describes the African slaves descent into hell:

Slavery for many was a time of despair and anguish, it felt like hell not only by the heat of the sun, but, by the treatment many received from their owners as well. Despite written almost 100 years apart, two of the most famous and well known slave narratives that give the modern day reader just an idea of what slavery was like are, Aphra Behn’s “Oroonoko, or, The Royal Slave” and Olaudah Equiano’s “The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano”. The journey of these two young men, although in many ways are similar, from a larger perspective could not be more different. For Oroonoko a somewhat established young man who comes from royalty, optimizes what it means to be a noble savage. As for a young Equiano who seems to spend most of his childhood in slavery, must find a way to overcome the hand he has been dealt and work hard to earn his freedom. Throughout both of these stories there are similarities and there are differences as well. Some of the most interesting aspects that might stand out to the reader are, the aspect of slavery and or the lack of it, suicide and how both characters go about it in their own way and points of view and how the reader is influenced by it.

The article, The Horrors of a Slave Ship, is first person point of view account of the capturing of Olaudah Equiano. He tells the story of how he was captured from his home while his parents were away to be used as a slave. The article starts off with Olaudah and his sister being captured while their parents were away. They were taken into the woods, tied up, and forced to travel bound without food. After many days of traveling, Olaudah and his sister were separated. From that point he was passed around and finally landed in the hands of his first owner. His first owner was a smith and Olaudah worked in his shop. He was there for about a month

The captivity narrative and the slave narrative are two types of literary works, which were very common during the 17th and the 18th century. The captivity narrative usually involves an innocent white woman who is taken captive by an Indian tribe, who the woman describes as savages in most of the cases. On the other hand, the slave narrative focuses on the quality of life that slaves were facing before the time of the abolishment of slavery. Although the captivity narrative and the slave narrative show some similarities, they are completely different. We can observe the differences by analyzing two literary works, A Narrative of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson by Mary Rowlandson and From The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavas Vassa, the African, Written by Himself by Olaudah Equiano. A Narrative of The Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson is a narrative written by Mary Rowlandson herself, which sheds light on her own experiences revolving captivity. The Interesting Narrative of The Life of Olaudah Equiano gives the reader insight into the life of a slave, the treatments they endure, and usually their freedom, whether it be through escaping or other means. Both narratives usually include real-life accounts, however, the differences lie in the structure of the narrative, the purpose that the narrative is trying to lay out and the treatment of the parties who are living these experiences.

In the except from The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, he did not talk about the horrible treatment of a slave like beatings they would receive or how they were not fed but rather how they were ripped away from their family and friends. . (Foner, 2011) The author wanted the reader to realize that they were parted from family and friends because of the greed of the white man and that this is the new refinement in cruelty during those times. He made it known that the only positive aspect of being a slave was at least they were able to be with their friends and family, but now the white man had taken that away. He is asking the white men to live up to their perceived belief in liberty and that all men are created equal according to their god. He also is asking, why the African people should give up their comfort of being together because the white men want their luxuries.