Daphne Catarce HON140 Dr. Lyn Blanchfield 11 April 2023 Equiano Response Paper Odaulah Equiano was born in the year 1745 in the Eboe Region in what is now southern Nigeria. He was enslaved as a child and taken to the Americas. He was enslaved again and worked for a Royal Navy captain and Quaker merchant, but eventually bought his freedom. Afterward, he worked in London where he developed abolitionist views. Additionally, he wrote an autobiography in 1789 titled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano. In Bentley’s travel narrative, he asks about the audience of the narrative. Equiano’s audience is the white middle class. This is because he wanted to give them a perspective of how a slave lived. He wanted to show them the primary experience of what it was like to be a slave and what it was like to live in his society. The reason Equiano’s white, middle-class, Christian English readers would want to know these aspects of African society is that they have never experienced his kind of life before. They are only familiar with the enslaving aspect. They are interested in a first-hand account. In Bentley’s travel narrative, he asks about the author's interests in their travel narrative. Some of Equiano’s interest includes but are not limited to religion, the way women live, the status of enslaved people, and his childhood in Africa. The status of enslaved people who were not in the West Indies was almost equal to their masters. Equiano describes how enslaved people who were not sold or redeemed became slaved but they were treated better than the slaves in the West Indies. He states that, “...their food, clothing and lodging were nearly the same as theirs…” (Equiano, Travels). Equiano included this because he wanted his audience to know that even though people were enslaved, they were treated almost equally to their masters and to other members of the community. In some instances, even slaves had their own slaves. Religion is a very important role in Equiano’s society. Their religion consists of purifications and washings. Equiano mentions how, “Those that touched the dead at any time were obliged to wash and purify themselves before they could enter a dwelling-house” (Equiano, Travels). He also compares the concept of washing and purification to Judaism because both religions do these things so often. Equiano mentioned his religion in his narrative because he wanted to express to the white, middle class how his people also had a religion and it revolved around cleanliness.
